Prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness in persons ≥50 years of age in Pulwama district, Jammu & Kashmir, India

Rapid assessment of cataract blindness has been accepted as a robust tool to help planners in developing countries. Prevalence of cataract blindness can give important information about the impact of a cataract intervention programme. A study in this direction was carried out in Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir. Our results clearly showed that with the increase in age, the prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness increases manifold. However, gender did influence the prevalence of cataract in the present survey. The prevalence of bilateral cataract decreases considerably, with the increase in education of both the genders. Among both male and female respondents examined, 89 percent were having both eyes phakia. Similarly 79 percent of study population were not having lenticular opacity either in R/E or L/E in both males and females. Results show that the prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness in district Pulwama is 4.16 percent.