Cataract Services and Blindness Trends in North-West Nigeria 2005-2016

Data from a study assessing the impact of an eye care program on cataract blindness and surgical services in Sokoto, Nigeria from 2005 to 2016. The dataset includes longitudinal metrics on cataract surgical coverage, surgical rates, blindness prevalence, and intervention types. It was authored by Nasiru Muhammad and published via Dryad in 2020.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in Cataract Surgical Coverage (CSC) for visual acuity thresholds <3/60, <6/60, and <6/18 between 2005 and 2016.
• Model the relationship between Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR) and the prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness over the 12-year period.
• Investigate the shift in intervention types, specifically the proportion of couching procedures versus IOL implantation surgeries.
• Assess causes of poor surgical outcomes, such as postoperative complications and uncorrected refractive error, from the 2016 survey data.

Strengths

• 12-year longitudinal study from 2005 to 2016, providing a decade of trend data.
• Includes specific, calculated prevalence rates with confidence intervals, such as a 5.6% cataract blindness rate in 2005 falling to 2.1% in 2016.
• Reports multiple key performance indicators: Cataract Surgical Coverage (CSC), Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR), and intervention outcome causes.

Limitations

• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data is specific to the Wurno health zone in Sokoto state, Nigeria, which may limit generalizability.
• Relies on document analysis and survey data which may contain reporting biases or inconsistencies.

Provenance

Source

Dryad, authored by Nasiru Muhammad.

Collection Method

Population-based cross-sectional surveys (2005, 2016) combined with analysis of program documents on workforce, infrastructure, and services.

Time Range

2005 to 2016.

Freshness

Data covers 2005-2016; last updated in the repository on 2020-06-30.

Geography

Wurno health zone, Sokoto state, North-West Nigeria.