Prevalence And Factors Associated With Cataract Among Rural Community Adults In Negeri Sembilan

Abstract

‘Klinik Pakar Mata Bergerak’ (KLiP Mobile), translated to specialised ophthalmology mobile clinic is a programme which provides ophthalmology care in the rural community of Negeri Sembilan. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cataract and its associated factors among rural adults in Malaysia through an outreach programme of specialised ophthalmology services by KLiP Mobile. This is a cross-sectional study carried out from January 2016 until March 2018 and was conducted in rural areas of all seven districts in the state of Negeri Sembilanvisited by the KLiP Mobile. Universal sampling was applied to all adults attending the mobile clinic. The participants are those who were referred by the government community clinics and walk in patients. The total number of participants in this study was 1480. The mean (SD) age for the study population was 56 (16.9), by which majority were Malay (n = 1220, 82.4%) and female (n = 809, 54.7%). Most of them received either primary (n = 604, 42.4%) or secondary education (n = 577, 40.5%). The majority of participants were categorized into low income group, with monthly income of less than RM 3,000 (n = 1118, 92.4%). The prevalence of cataract in the study population was 28.6%. In the multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with cataract were being male, having no formal education, race and suffering from hypertension. The prevalence of cataract in the rural areas is considerably high. This study highlights the need of baseline information for future study or as the main reference by the policy makers for policy development related to improving vision and eye-care among the populations in Malaysia.