Journal of

Introduction: Cataract is a common disease across the world and the most common cause of vision loss and blindness. Several factors contribute to the disease, the most important of which is aging. Other contributors include sex, smoking, sunlight, place of residence, family, job, and systemic disease. This study was aimed to enquire into the epidemiology of cataract cases referred to Noor Ophthalmology Clinic of Birjand from March 2015 to February 2016.

Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, the patients with cataract admitted to Noor Ophthalmology Clinic in Birjand from March 2015 to February 2016, who were available, were selected. A total of 386 patients were selected. Information was collected by a checklist concerning variables such as age, sex, smoking history, diabetes, location, separate left and right eye, family, job, and cataract diagnosis. Their records were collected, and the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software (V: 16). The significant level was set at P<0.05.

Results: The majority of the 386 cases under study were women (56.5%). The mean age of patients was 67.4±2.9 years. Cataract was more commonly seen in the right eye, diabetes (13.50%), hypertension (21.1%), and urban (31.9%) and rural (68.1%) areas. The prevalent cataract types were respectively nuclear cataract, cortical cataract, and sub-capsular cataract.

Conclusions: As cataract is one of the common eye diseases which is of more prevalence in elderly age group (50-79) and housewives, special attention should be given to these groups of population in order to prevent and control cataract.