MANGNITUDE OF CATARACT AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG ADULTS ATTENDING EYE CLINIC AT HIWOT FANA UNIVERSITY SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL, HARAR, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Globally, 65.5 million people are suffered from cataract. It is the most common cause of low vision and the principal cause of blindness in the world .limited information is available on the prevalence cataract and the associated factors of among older adults in study area. Objective :To assess the prevalence and associated factors of cataract among older adults at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar , Ethiopia, from September 4 to December 30, 2022 Methods: An institution based cross -sectional study was conducted on A total of 409 older Adult age _>40 years attending the Eye Clinic were selected by systematic random sampling technique. A pre-tested questionnaire ,Snellen’s chart, ophthalmoscopy and2.5 magnifying loup were used to collect the data. Collected data were entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported to SPSS 21 for further analysis. Descriptive statistics was carried to compute frequency, proportion and median.Binary logistic regression model was used to assess the association between the dependent and independent variables. All variables with p-value < 0.25 were included in the multivariable analysis.The strength of association was measured by using an adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance was declared at p-value < 0.05 . Results:The prevalence of cataract was found to be 21.3% (95% CI:17%–25%) . Age_>80 years [AOR:15.6; 95%CI:6.9-36.6],family history of cataract [AOR:2.5;95% CI:1.4-4.6] educational status [AOR:2.0;95%CI:1.05-4.1],marital status[AOR:4.8; 95%CI:2.2-10.5] Significantly associated with cataract . Conclusion: This study finding is proportionally higher in magnitude One out of five adults attending the eye clinic of HFSUH were diagnosed with cataract and the role of increasing age, low literacy status, Marital status, family history of cataract were associated with cataract. the concerned bodies should strengthen further screening and treating of older adults patients who are targeted groups such as aged population as early as possible