Eyes :: Pakistani women 30 percent more likely to be blind than men

The odds of a woman in Pakistan being blind are 30 percent higher than for a Pakistani man according to a new survey published in the November 2006 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS).

Researchers from the Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology in Peshawar, Pakistan, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England conducted a survey of 16,600 adults 30 years of age of older. The study examined several factors in measuring the prevalence of blindness in Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world. These included age and socioeconomic indicators including education and household occupation.

The study showed that the prevalence of blindness was higher in women in every age category surveyed except those aged 30 to 39 years. After adjusting for age differences in the study sample, the odds of a woman being blind were 30 percent higher than for a man. The researchers theorize that lower utilization of eye care services as the result of barriers specific to women may explain this disparity.


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