BACKGROUND/AIMS: In the coming two decades significant increases in the burden of @entity1939 are anticipated unless concerted efforts are made to improve eye care in developing countries. Evidence of changing prevalence rates or numbers of blind @entity1 are few. The change in @entity1939 prevalence and the number of blind @entity1 in an adult population of Malawi was measured over a 16 year period. METHODS: In 1999 a population based survey of @entity1939 in adults (age 50+) was conducted in Chikwawa district of Malawi. Visual acuity and cause of @entity1018 were recorded for each eye independently. Blindness was defined as presenting @entity227 of <6/60. Findings from a 1983 survey of @entity1939 in the same district (using similar methods) were re-analysed to be comparable with the survey conducted in 1999. RESULTS: Among 1630 enumerated adults 89% were examined. The age adjusted prevalence of @entity1939 in the adult population was 5.4% and more common in @entity1 than @entity1 . In each age group the prevalence of @entity1939 was lower in 1999 than in 1983; the overall reduction in @entity1939 was 31%. During this period the 50+ population in Malawi increased almost twofold. Extrapolating the Chikwawa district data to the Malawi population reveals that the number of blind @entity1 has increased by 24%; the increase is primarily because of the large increase in the size of the most elderly group, aged 70 and above. CONCLUSION: The majority of blind @entity1 in Chikwawa (1983 and 1999) are in the age group 70 and over. This group has had the largest proportional increase in population size in this time. Services in this population have improved in the intervening 16 years and yet there was still an increase in the number of blind @entity1 . There was little change in excess @entity1939 in @entity1 , suggesting that the same barriers that prevented utilisation of services in 1983 probably persist in 1999. Efforts to reach the most elderly and to reach @entity1 are needed to lead to a reduction in blind @entity1 in settings such as rural Malawi.

Changes in XXXX prevalence over 16 years in Malawi: reduced prevalence but increased numbers of blind.

@entity1939 :: ('MESH:D001766', 'Disease') :: ['blindness'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['men', 'women', 'people'] @entity227 :: ('MESH:D014786', 'Disease') :: ['better eye vision'] @entity1018 :: ('MESH:D054062', 'Disease') :: ['vision loss']
@entity1939 :: (MESH:D001766,Disease) :: ['blindness']
