Changing trends in the prevalence of visual impairment, uncorrected refractive errors and use of spectacles in Mahbubnagar district in South India

Abstract

The results from a RARE survey with 3,095 subjects were compared with an APEDS dataset that had 1,232 subjects in the same age group of 15-49 years. The prevalence of VI has decreased from 9.5% (95% CI, 7.7-11.1) in APEDS to 2.7% (95% CI, 2.1-3.3) in RARE. Similarly, the prevalence of URE in the better eye decreased from 5.8% (95% CI, 4.5-7.1) to 2.3% (95% CI, 1.8-2.8). The usage of spectacles increased from 6.6% (95% CI, 5.2-8.0) to 9.7% (95% CI, 8.7-10.7). There is a decreasing trend in the prevalence of VI and URE in Mahbubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh over a decade.