Magnitude of bilateral cataracts and factors associated with delayed uptake of cataract surgery among adult patients with operable cataract seen at Mulago Hospital.

Abstract

Background. Cataract is an opacity in the natural lens of the eye that causes visual impairment to vision of less than 6/9. Cataract causes 51% of global blindness and any delay in timely uptake of cataract surgery results into avoidable blindness.Aim: To determine the magnitude of bilateral cataracts and factors associated with delayed uptake of cataract surgery among adult patients with operable cataracts.Methodology and materials: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at MNRH eye department after obtaining ethical clearance from SOMREC IRB of Makerere University and informed consent from each of the patients. The data was collected by conducting interview and clinical assessment of the patients by the investigator and filling the predetermined semi-structured questionnaires. The data was checked for quality, entered into Epidata and exported to Stata version 14.6.0v. The analysis was done by proportion to determine the magnitude of bilateral cataract and, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions for determining factors associated with delayed uptake of cataract surgery among patients with operable catarac. Results: Eighty two participants were examined (response rate 100%). Out of these, 38 (46%) were males and 44 (54%) were females. The magnitude of bilateral cataract among adult patients with operable cataract was 67% and, the factors associated with delayed uptake of cataract surgery among adult patients with operable cataract were financial constraints and perceived feeling of no need for cataract surgery.Conclusions: The magnitude of bilateral cataract among adult patients with operable cataract seen at Mulago Hospital was 67%, and it was five times higher than the findings from developing countries. Financial constraints and perceived no need for cataract surgery were the factors associated with delayed uptake of cataract surgery.