ArticleOphthalmology2012
Blindness and visual impairment in an urban West African population: the Tema Eye Survey.
Article in Ophthalmology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- The burden of visual impairment among Ethiopian adult population: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Estimating need and coverage for five priority assistive products: a systematic review of global population-based research.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- Visual Acuity: Comparison of ETDRS Charts Using Latin Letters, Tumbling E, or Landolt C Optotypes.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Emotional and Caregiver Burden in Adults with Glaucoma-Related Blindness at a Chinese Tertiary Center.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Association between health literacy and health-promoting behaviors in individuals with visual impairments.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Optical Coherence Tomography Versus Optic Disc Photo Assessment in Glaucoma Screening.Journal of glaucoma · 2024Review
- Epidemiology and trends in the uptake of refractive error services in Harare, Zimbabwe: a hospital-based retrospective study.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2023Article
- [Visual Impairment and Eye Diseases in St. Louis, Senegal].Medecine tropicale et sante internationale · 2021Article
- Autophagy stimulation reduces ocular hypertension in a murine glaucoma model via autophagic degradation of mutant myocilin.JCI insight · 2021Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of vision loss in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1).BMC ophthalmology · 2021Article
- ATF4 leads to glaucoma by promoting protein synthesis and ER client protein load.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Visual impairment and social isolation, depression and life satisfaction among older adults in Ghana: analysis of the WHO's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Wave 2.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2020Article
- Article
- Update on the genetics of primary open-angle glaucoma.Experimental eye research · 2019Review
- Assessing the Progress towards Achieving "VISION 2020: The Right to Sight" Initiative in Ghana.Journal of environmental and public health · 2019Article
- Prevalence, Causes, and Factors Associated with Visual Impairment and Blindness among Registered Pensioners in Ghana.Journal of ophthalmology · 2019Article
- Visual impairment and blindness in a population-based study of Mashhad, Iran.Journal of current ophthalmology · 2018Article
- Barriers and incentives for conducting research amongst the ophthalmologists in Sub-Sahara Africa.PloS one · 2018Article
- A comparison of cup-to-disc ratio estimates by fundus biomicroscopy and stereoscopic optic disc photography in the Tema Eye Survey.Eye (London, England) · 2017Article
- Major review: Molecular genetics of primary open-angle glaucoma.Experimental eye research · 2017Review
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the prevalence, causes, and risk factors of blindness and visual impairment among persons aged 40 years or older residing in an urban West African location.
designPopulation-based, cross-sectional study.
participantsA total of 5603 participants residing in Tema, Ghana.
methodsProportionate random cluster sampling was used to select participants aged 40 years or older living in the city of Tema. Presenting distance visual acuity (VA) was measured at 4 and 1 m using a reduced logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution tumbling E chart and then with trial frame based on autorefraction. A screening examination was performed in the field on all participants. Complete clinical examination by an ophthalmologist was performed on participants with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) <20/40 or failure of any screening test.
main outcome measuresAge- and gender-specific prevalence, causes, and risk factors for blindness (VA of <20/400 in the better eye, World Health Organization definition) and visual impairment (VA of <20/40 in the better eye).
resultsA total of 6806 eligible participants were identified, of whom 5603 (82.3%) participated in the study. The mean age (± standard deviation) of participants was 52.7 ± 1 0.9 years. The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness was 17.1% and 1.2%, respectively. After refraction and spectacle correction, the prevalence of visual impairment and blindness decreased to 6.7% and 0.75%, respectively, suggesting that refractive error is the major correctable cause of visual impairment and blindness in this population. Of 65 subjects with a VA <20/400, 22 (34%) were correctable with refraction, 21 to the level of visual impairment and 1 to normal. The remaining 43 patients (66%) had underlying pathology (cataract in 19, glaucoma in 9, nonglaucomatous optic neuropathy in 3, corneal opacities in 3, retinal disease in 3, and undetermined in 5) that prevented refractive correction. Increased age was a significant risk factor for blindness and visual impairment.
conclusionsThere is a high prevalence of blindness and visual impairment among those aged ≥ 40 years in Tema, Ghana, West Africa. Refractive error is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in this population, followed by cataract, glaucoma, and corneal disease.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.