Cataract and Associated Factors Among OPD Attendees in a Teaching Institute of North East India: A Baseline Observation

BACKGROUND: In India 66% of blindness among individuals aged 50 yrs and above is attributable to cataract. Cataract has multiple etiologies and many of them are modifiable. But data regarding burden and correlates of cataract among OPD attendees in Northeast India are insufficient. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the proportion of cataract among the attendees of ophthalmology OPD of a teaching hospital of Northeast India and to study the factors associated with it. METHODS: This hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted during 7(th) February to 6(th) March 2020, using a pre-tested structured interview schedule, among 330 adults attending ophthalmology OPD of Agartala Government Medical College, chosen by consecutive sampling. RESULT: Proportion of cataract among the attendees was 36.7% and it was 51.5% among the subjects aged ≥50 years. Age, family type, literacy, diabetes mellitus and hypertension had significant associations with cataract (P < 0.05). Logistic regression model has identified age ≥ 50 yrs (OR: 5.57, 95% CI: 2.98-10.43) and illiteracy (OR: 2.67, 95% CI: 1.55-4.59) as the significant predictors for developing cataract (P < 0.05) in the study population. CONCLUSION: Proportion of cataract among OPD attendees is 36.7%, which is higher than the community prevalence of cataract in Tripura. Promoting literacy, reducing family size, blood sugar and blood pressure may bring down the proportion of cataract in this population.