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Do gender inequities exist in cataract surgical coverage? Meta‐analysis in Latin America
Author(s) -
Carter Marissa J,
Limburg Hans,
Lansingh Van C,
Silva Juan C,
Resnikoff Serge
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clinical and experimental ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.3
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1442-9071
pISSN - 1442-6404
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9071.2011.02722.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cataract surgery , confidence interval , odds ratio , meta analysis , blindness , demography , latin americans , epidemiology , visual acuity , ophthalmology , optometry , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
A bstract Background: To determine if gender inequities exist in Latin America in regard to cataract surgery. Design: Meta‐analysis. Participants: Total of 38 992 subjects participating in epidemiological surveys; summary measures were used (not patient‐level data). Methods: A literature search and knowledge of rapid assessment of cataract surgical services/rapid assessment of avoidable blindness studies carried out in Latin America found 11 studies with complete cataract surgical coverage (CSC) data. Using summary original study data, a meta‐analysis (random effects model) was conducted to analyse the differences in CSC between males and females. Results were adjusted for design effect. Main Outcome Measures: Odds ratio (OR) of receiving cataract surgery comparing women with men. Results: CSC with a visual acuity (VA) <3/60 on an eye basis showed a non‐statistically significant OR of 1.01 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.86–1.18) for women receiving cataract surgery in comparison with men. For VA < 6/18, a non‐statistically significant OR of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.83–1.07) was obtained for women receiving cataract surgery. On a person basis at a VA of <3/60 and <6/18, non‐statistically significant ORs of 1.12 (95% CI: 0.78–1.63) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.77–1.15) were obtained for women receiving cataract surgery, respectively. Statistical heterogeneity was 0% (I 2 statistic), except for results at a VA of <3/60 on a person basis (I 2 = 30%). Conclusions: In the Latin American countries in which CSC was assessed, gender does not appear to be a significant factor in receiving cataract surgery. However, more data are required to confirm these results.