Rates and Determinants of Eyecare Utilization and Eyeglass Affordability Among Individuals With Visual Impairment in a Multi-Ethnic Population-Based Study in Singapore
Authors: Preeti Gupta1,*, Shivani Majithia1, Eva K. Fenwick1,2, Alfred T. L. Gan1, Yih-Chung Tham1, Stanley Poh1, Sahil Thakur1, Charumathi Sabanayagam1,2,3, Tien Yin Wong1,2,3, Ching-Yu Cheng1,2,3, and Ecosse L. Lamoureux1,2,*
1 Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore 2 Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
3 National University of Singapore, Singapore
“Singapore is a multi-ethnic city-state comprising ofChinese (76.8%), Malays (13.9%), and Indians (7.9%), three major ethnic groups in Asia. Importantly, previous research by our group has reported a considerable disparity in the prevalence of VI, blindness, major eye diseases, and rates of eye surgeries among these ethnic groups in Singapore, where Malays were found to have highest prevalence (19.7%)22 of bilateral presenting VI compared to 17.7% and 14.2% in Chinese and Indian, respectively. Moreover, a higher proportion of Malays compared to Chinese or Indians had undiagnosed eye diseases, such as glaucoma,19 visually significant cataract,20 diabetic retinopathy (DR),25 and vision-threatening DR. One potential reason for these disparities could be related to differences in the utilization and affordability of eyecare services, and associated barriers and facilitators among different ethnic groups in Singapore. However, this information is currently lacking, making it difficult to estimate continued unmet healthcare needs to help guide future public health priorities.” READ MORE HERE.
About The Author
