Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36691224›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2022

Cross-sectional study investigating the prevalence and causes of vision impairment in Northwest Portugal using capture-recapture.

Pedro Lima Ramos, Rui Santana, Ana Patricia Marques, Ines Sousa, Amandio Rocha-Sousa, Antonio Filipe Macedo

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Perceived stress levels among patients treated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration with anti-VEGF injections.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Pedro Lima RamosDepartment of Medicine and Optometry, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
Rui SantanaEscola Nacional Saude Publica, Comprehensive Health Research Centre Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Ana Patricia MarquesEscola Nacional Saude Publica, Comprehensive Health Research Centre Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0001-8242-7021
Ines SousaDepartment of Mathematics and Applications and Center of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
Amandio Rocha-SousaDepartment of Surgery and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0001-8374-0298
Antonio Filipe MacedoDepartment of Medicine and Optometry, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden a.macedo@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3436-2010
Linnaeus University · SELondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversidade do Porto · PTUniversidade Nova de Lisboa · PTUniversity of Minho · PT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and causes of vision impairment (VI) in Portugal.

settingInformation about people with VI was obtained from primary care centres, blind association (ACAPO) and from hospitals (the PCVIP study) in the Northwest of Portugal during a period spanning years 2014-2015. Causes of VI were obtained from hospitals.

participantsAdministrative and medical records of people with visual acuity in the better seeing eye of 0.5 decimal (0.30logMAR) or worse and/or visual field less than 20° were investigated. Capture-recapture with log-linear models was applied to estimate the number of individuals missing from lists of cases obtained from available sources. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Log-linear models were used to estimate the crude prevalence and the category specific prevalence of VI.

resultsCrude prevalence of VI was 1.97% (95% CI 1.56% to 2.54%), and standardised prevalence was 1% (95% CI 0.78% to 1.27%). The age-specific prevalence was 3.27% (95% CI 2.36% to 4.90%), older than 64 years, 0.64% (95% CI 0.49% to 0.88%), aged 25-64 years, and 0.07% (95% CI 0.045% to 0.13%), aged less than 25 years. The female-to-male ratio was 1.3, that is, higher prevalence among females. The five leading causes of VI were diabetic retinopathy, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and disorders of the globe.

conclusionsThe prevalence of VI in Portugal was within the expected range and in line with other European countries. A significant number of cases of VI might be due to preventable cases and, therefore, a reduction of the prevalence of VI in Portugal seems possible. Women and old people were more likely to have VI and, therefore, these groups require extra attention. Future studies are necessary to characterise temporal changes in prevalence of VI in Portugal.

Indexed as

GlaucomaPersons with Visual DisabilitiesAdultBlindnessCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPortugalPrevalenceVision DisordersVisual AcuityDiabetic retinopathyEPIDEMIOLOGYOPHTHALMOLOGY

Identifiers

PMID36691224
PMCPMC9462125
OpenAlexW4294958852

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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.