Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39997301›Full record

ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2025

Prevalence, Causes, and Risk Factors Associated with Visual Impairment in Qbah, a Rural Community in the Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia.

Sulaiman Aldakhil, Saif Hassan Alrasheed, Raghda Faisal Mutwaly, Bandar Alenezi, Saad Alrabiah, Mohammed M Alnawmasi, Nawaf M Almutairi, Saja A Alhoshan, Bashair N Alnasser

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Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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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

9 authors.

Sulaiman AldakhilDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-4409-6441
Saif Hassan AlrasheedDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-0247-8780
Raghda Faisal MutwalyDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
Bandar AleneziDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-9346-280X
Saad AlrabiahDepartment of Ophthalmology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh 12231, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed M AlnawmasiDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-7433-3957
Nawaf M AlmutairiDepartment of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-7397-2869
Saja A AlhoshanDepartment of Ophthalmology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-5103-3767
Bashair N AlnasserDepartment of Ophthalmology, Armed Forces Hospital, Armed Forces Medical Services, Al-Kharj 16274, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-1747-6331

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVisual impairment can significantly impact an individual's performance, productivity, and overall quality of life.

objectivesThe objective of this paper is to report the prevalence, causes, and risk factors associated with visual impairment in Qbah, a rural community in the Qassim Province of Saudi Arabia.

methodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Qbah, a rural community, with 587 subjects aged 6 to 80 years. Data were collected as part of a major campaign by Qassim University, and each participant underwent a comprehensive eye examination. Finally, the visual impairment was classified based on the International Classification of Diseases 11th revision, 2018 (ICD-11).

resultsThe overall prevalence of presenting visual impairment was 159 (27.1%). This included mild visual impairment 84 (14.37%), moderate visual impairment 65 (11.7%), severe visual impairment, and blindness 5 (0.90%). The main causes of visual impairment were uncorrected refractive errors (UREs), at 132 (83.0%), followed by amblyopia, at 14 (8.8%), and cataract, at 9 (5.7%). The prevalence of hyperopia, myopia, and astigmatism was 134 (22.8%), 174 (29.6%), and 13 (2.2%), respectively. Regression analysis revealed that the odds for visual impairment were 2.71 times higher in the elderly compared to the young participants. Women have 2.234 times higher odds of visual impairment compared to men, while the odds of visual impairment were 14.83 times higher in the participants with the URE compared to the emmetropic participants. Almost two-thirds of participants (65.8%) reported never having had an eye examination before.

conclusionsVisual impairment was common in the community, especially among older people and females, and URE was the main cause of visual impairment, followed by amblyopia and cataract. Considerable subjects reported never having had an eye examination before; this highlights the challenges in accessing healthcare in rural areas. These findings emphasize the importance of improving healthcare accessibility in rural regions.

Indexed as

age factorspublic healthrisk factorrural communityvisual impairment

Identifiers

PMID39997301
PMCPMC11855588

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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.