creators_name: Nayak, RR creators_name: Kamath, AR creators_name: Nayak, MA creators_name: Kamath, GM creators_name: Kamath, MM creators_name: D'Souza, S creators_id: 14maddy@gmail.com editors_name: Kakkilaya, Srinivas editors_id: Kakkilaya BS type: journale datestamp: 2016-07-11 15:45:34 lastmod: 2016-07-11 15:45:34 metadata_visibility: show title: Role of Outreach Camps in Reducing the Burden of Cataracts in South India ispublished: pub subjects: OJHAS full_text_status: public keywords: Outreach camps; Cataract surgery; Mobile ophthalmic unit abstract: Aim: To establish the efficacy of rural outreach programme in reducing blindness caused by cataract by comparative analysis of visual outcome. Materials and Methods: Records of patients attending outreach camps conducted during 10 years i.e., 2001-02 to 2010-11 were studied. The total number of patients attending the camp and those who were detected to have visually significant cataract were noted. Similarly, the number of patients attending the outpatient department of the department of Ophthalmology and the number detected with visually significant cataract were noted. Data was tabulated and analyzed. Result: Out of 1, 16,615 patients visiting the outpatient department during those ten years, 3,014 were detected to have cataract (2.58%). 744 camps were conducted during the period of ten years, screening 60,086 patients and 6711 (11.17%) of them were detected to have cataract and were operated. These results were statistically significant. Conclusions: High numbers of cataracts were detected in the rural parts of South India with the help of outreach camps, while compared to tertiary care centres. They were given treatment in the form of cataract extraction and implantation of intraocular lens. Hence, conducting outreach camps forms an integral part in decreasing the visual morbidity due to cataract. date: 2014-05-15 date_type: published publication: Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences volume: 13 number: 1 publisher: Kakkilaya BS refereed: TRUE referencetext: 1. Thulasiraj RD, Nirmalan PK, Ramakrishnan R, Krishandas R, Manimekalai TK, Baburajan NP, et al. Blindness and Vision Impairment in a Rural South Indian Population: The Aravind Comprehensive Eye Survey. Ophthalmology. 2003;110:1491-1498. 2. Thulasiraj RD, Rahamathulla R, Saraswati A, Selvaraj S, Ellwein LB. The Sivaganga eye survey: I, Blindness and cataract surgery. Ophthal Epidemiol. 2002;9:299-312. 3. Nirmalan PK, Thulasiraj RD, Maneksha V, Rahmathullah R, Ramakrishnan R, Padmavathi A, et al. A population based eye survey of older adults in Tirunelveli district of south India: Blindness, cataract surgery and visual outcomes. Br J Ophthalmol. 2002;86:505-512. 4. Murthy GV, Gupta S, Ellwein LB, Munoz SR, Bachani D, Dada VK. A Population-based Eye Survey of Older Adults in a Rural District of Rajasthan: I, Central Vision Impairment, Blindness and Cataract Surgery. Ophthalmology.2001;108:679-685. 5. Mohan M. National Survey of Blindness-India. NPCB-WHO Report. New Delhi: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; 1989. 6. Mohan M. Collaborative Study on Blindness (1971-1974): A report. New Delhi, India: Indian Council of Medical Research; 1987. pp. 1-65. 7. Sil AK. Outreach eye camps: a case study from West Bengal, India. Community Eye Health. 2006 June;19(58):22-23. 8. Vijaya L, George R, Rashima A, Raju P, Arvind H, Baskaran M, et. al. Outcomes of cataract surgery in a rural and urban south Indian population. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2010 May-Jun;58(3):223-228 9. Civerchia L, Ravindran RD, Apoorvananda SW, Ramakrishnan R, BalentA, Spencer MH et al. High-volume intraocular lens surgery in a rural eye camp in India. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers. 1996 Mar;27(3):200-208. 10. Kapoor H, Chatterjee A, Daniel R, Foster A. Evaluation of visual outcome of cataract surgery in an Indian eye camp. Br J Ophthalmol. 1999;83:343-346. citation: Nayak, RR and Kamath, AR and Nayak, MA and Kamath, GM and Kamath, MM and D'Souza, S (2014) Role of Outreach Camps in Reducing the Burden of Cataracts in South India. [Journal (On-line/Unpaginated)] document_url: http://cogprints.org/9731/1/2014-1-5.pdf