Cataract surgery: limitations and barriers in Makurdi, Benue State

Cataract is amenable to surgery; despite this affected patients do not always embrace or accept cataract surgical intervention. The study aims to ascertain the factors responsible for this negative attitude towards cataract surgery by affected patients.

A prospective study was carried out with an interview assisted questionnaire, parameters assessed were duration of blindness before presentation, insight into the cause of cataract, awareness of the available treatment, knowledge of where to go for treatment and possible barriers to surgical treatment was administered to all consecutive patients aged 40 years and above whose cause of visual impairment and blindness is principally due to cataract for a period of one year (January 2007 December 2007).

Senile cataract constituted 2.6% (180) of all the patients aged 40 years and above. Duration of blindness before presentation ranged from 6 to 84 months. Majority of the patients (65%) were aware that surgical intervention was the answer to their visual dysfunction.

Although, affected patients are knowledgeable that surgical intervention was the answer to their visual dysfunction, they do not readily embrace surgical intervention for diverse reasons.