Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in developing countries and identification of the barriers to accessing treatment is essential for developing appropriate public healthcare interventions. To evaluate the barriers to cataract surgery after diagnosis and assess the postoperative outcomes in Sao Paolo State, Brazil. Cataract was diagnosed in the community by a mobile ophthalmic unit and patients were referred to a hospital for management.
Gender, age, distance to the hospital and local municipal health structure were evaluated as possible barriers. Data were analyzed for postoperative outcomes and the impact on blindness and visual impairment.
Six hundred patients were diagnosed with cataract with a mean age of Two hundred and fifty-four One hundred forty-four Visual acuity increased statistically significantly from 1. There was a statistically significantly decrease from 17 Less than half of the individuals with cataract presented to the hospital for surgery. Among the patients who underwent treatment, there was an overall decrease in the number of blind individuals and visually impaired individuals.
The barriers to cataract surgery were older age, greater distance to the hospital, municipalities with fewer inhabitants and less ophthalmic services. Cataract surgery is a leading cause of blindness in developing countries [ 1 ]. In , there were an estimated 39 million blind individuals and million visually impaired individuals globally. Despite improvement in access to surgery, many regions worldwide do have adequate coverage for cataract surgery [ 3 ]. Despite universal healthcare, cataract remains the major cause of blindness in Brazil [ 6 , 7 ].
Appropriate public healthcare strategies can be developed to eliminate cataract as a source of blindness using data from studies of barriers to cataract surgery in regions of Brazil. Currently there are no published studies of barriers to cataract surgery in a Brazilian population. The present study evaluates the barriers to cataract surgery and presents some suggestions to increase the uptake of cataract surgery. SUS covered all the costs for treatment.
