Đặc điểm mù lòa trên người từ 50 tuổi trở lên ở một tỉnh thành phố

Objectives: To study the rate of blindness in the patients of 50 years old and older in order to estimate the average rate of blindness and to understand the main causes of blindness. Subjects: The patients of 50 years old and older in 16 cities/provinces representing various ecological regions in Vietnam. Methods:. Rapid assessment of blindness situation in accordance with WHO guideline (Le. RAAB or Rapid Assessm~nt for Avoidable Blindness). Results: The rate of blindness in the patients of 50 years old and older in the survey sample stood at 3 percent. The avarage rate was estimated at approximately 3 percent nationwide. The rate in women was 3.6 percent, higher than that of men (i.e. 2.3 percent). The estimated rate in the entire community was 0.59 percent. Th~ leading cause of blindness was cataract, followed by posterior segment diseases, accounting for 66.1 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively, of the total. It is noteworthy that the rate of blindness caused by surgical complication, reflective errors and trachoma is 5.7 percent, 2.5 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. Conclusions: The rate of blindness in the community is rather high (i.e. 0.59 percent), of which 66.1 percent was caused by cataract.