The Association of Socioeconomic Status with the Burden of Cataract-related Blindness and the Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure: An Ecological Study.
Yan Deng, Dan Yang, Jia Ming Yu, Jing Xian Xu, Hui Hua, Ren Tong Chen, Nan Wang, Feng Rong Ou, Ru Xi Liu, Bo Wu, Yang Liu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of socioeconomic status with the burden of cataract blindness in terms of year lived with disability (YLD) rates and to determine whether ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels modify the effect of socioeconomic status on this health burden. METHODS: National and subnational age-standardized YLD rates associated with cataract-related blindness were derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017. The human development index (HDI) from the Human Development Report was used as a measure of socioeconomic status. Estimated ground-level UVR exposure was obtained from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) dataset of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). RESULTS: value for interaction = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Long-term high-UVR exposure amplifies the association of poor socioeconomic status with the burden of cataract-related blindness. The findings emphasize the need for strengthening UVR exposure protection interventions in developing countries with high-UVR exposure.