INDEYE study shows cataracts remain a challenge in India

BANGALORE, India — Cataracts remain prevalent throughout India and deserve continued attention, according to a surgeon speaking here at the All India Ophthalmological Society conference.

G.V.S. Murthy, MBBS, MD, MSc, presented data from a preliminary analysis of the INDEYE study, which was conducted at the Dr. R.P. Centre for Ophthalmic Services in Delhi and the Aravind Eye Hospital in Pondicherry, thus covering the northern and southern regions of the country.

"Three out of every four individuals [aged older than 60 years] in this country do have a cataract," Dr. Murthy said. "That is the challenge. We know cataracts exist. We know cataract surgery rates are increasing in this country. We also know that significant proportions are still untreated."

In the study, investigators recruited approximately 3,000 people older than 60 years from each center, Praveen Vashisht, MBBS, MD, said before Dr. Murthy's presentation.

All participants completed a questionnaire and gave a blood sample. Investigators also obtained photographs of each participant's eyes to screen for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, Dr. Murthy said.

Nuclear cataract was present in about 80% of people older than 70 years in Delhi and in 61% of men and 68.5% of women in Pondicherry, he said.

Cortical cataracts were present in 11.8% of men and 13.9% of women in Delhi and in 14.7% of men and 18.2% of women in Pondicherry. Posterior subcapsular cataracts were present in 33.7% of men and 42% of women in Delhi and in 26.1% of men and 34.4% of women in Pondicherry.

Women had an 81% higher risk of having any cataract type, Dr. Murthy noted.

"We find that gender differences as well as age differences [were] consistent across both centers irrespective of their geographic points," Dr. Murthy said.

Surgery presented an interesting difference between the two centers; women underwent surgery more often in Delhi while men underwent surgery more often in Pondicherry, he said.

"When you put all of that together, 75.2% of the population above the age of 60 years in Delhi either have a cataract presently or had one previously. If you look at Pondicherry, it is 70%," Dr. Murthy said.