Korean J Ophthalmol.  1990 Dec;4(2):103-107. 10.3341/kjo.1990.4.2.103.

Community-based eye health survey in areas of Buan-Kun and Dobong-Ku in Korea

• Kim WS
• Kim IS
• Hu JU
• Kim JC
• Kim JD
• Koo BS

• KMID: 1735068
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.1990.4.2.103

Abstract

This survey comparing the primary causes of eye disease and visual impairment between rural and urban areas was conducted from the beginning of February through May of 1989. The outcome of that research on 686 residents (1372 eyes) of Buan-Kun, Chunbuk, and 997 residents (1994 eyes) of Dobong-Ku, Seoul, is as follows: 1. Of the basic ocular affections, pterygium was the most prevalent in Baun-Kun with 178 eyes (13.0%), while allergic and chronic conjunctivitis were in the majority in Dobong-Ku with 170 eyes (8.5%). 2. In causes of visual impairment, refractive error showed to be the main one in both Buan-Kun with 135 eyes (9.8%) and Dobong-Ku with 132 eyes (6.6%). 3. In rate of blindness, Buan-Kun had 7.0% monocular blindness and 3.2% of binocular blindness, while 4.1% of monocular blindness and 1.7% of binocular blindness were found in Dobong-Ku. 4. In causes of blindness, cataract (51.1%) was followed by macular degeneration (17.4%), corneal opacity (13.0%), and vascular retinopathy (9.8%) in Buan-Kun, while cataract (56.0%), macular degeneration (6.7%), corneal opacity (6.7%), and phthisis (6.7%) were recorded in that order in Dobong-Ku.

Keyword

basic ocular affection; visual impairment; blindness; pterygium; conjunctivitis; cataract

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Blindness/epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Eye Diseases/*epidemiology
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Korea/epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
Random Allocation
Vision Disorders/*epidemiology