Poverty and Blindness in Pakistan: Results from the Pakistan National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey

Objective: To explore the association between blindness and deprivation in a nationally representative sample of adults in Pakistan.

Design: Cross sectional population based survey.

Setting: 221 rural and urban clusters selected randomly throughout Pakistan.

Participants: Nationally representative sample of 16 507 adults aged 30 or above (95.3% response rate).

Main Outcome Measures: Associations between visual impairment and poverty assessed by a cluster level deprivation index and a household level poverty indicator; prevalence and causes of blindness; measures of the rate of uptake and quality of eye care services.

Results: 561 blind participants (<3/60 in the better eye) were identified during the survey. Clusters in urban Sindh province were the most affluent, whereas rural areas in Balochistan were the poorest. The prevalence of blindness in adults living in affluent clusters was 2.2%, compared with 3.7% in medium clusters and 3.9% in poor clusters (P<0.001 for affluent v poor). The highest prevalence of blindness was found in rural Balochistan (5.2%). The prevalence of total blindness (bilateral no light perception) was more than three times higher in poor clusters than in affluent clusters (0.24% v 0.07%, P<0.001). The prevalences of blindness caused by cataract, glaucoma, and corneal opacity were lower in affluent clusters and households. Reflecting access to eye care services, cataract surgical coverage was higher in affluent clusters (80.6%) than in medium (76.8%) and poor areas (75.1%). Intraocular lens implantation rates were significantly lower in participants from poorer households. 10.2% of adults living in affluent clusters presented to the examination station wearing spectacles, compared with 6.7% in medium clusters and 4.4% in poor cluster areas. Spectacle coverage in affluent areas was more than double that in poor clusters (23.5% v 11.1%, P<0.001).

Conclusion: Blindness is associated with poverty in Pakistan; lower access to eye care services was one contributory factor. To reduce blindness, strategies targeting poor people will be needed. These interventions may have an impact on deprivation in Pakistan.