RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cataract progression in India
JF British Journal of Ophthalmology
JO Br J Ophthalmol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
SP 896
OP 900
DO 10.1136/bjo.81.10.896
VO 81
IS 10
A1 M Srinivasan
A1 Rahim Rahmathullah
A1 Clifford R Blair
A1 Aparna C Murphy
A1 Roy W Beck
A1 John H Wilkins
A1 John P Whitcher
A1 Gilbert Smolin
YR 1997
UL http://bjo.bmj.com/content/81/10/896.abstract
AB AIMS The study was undertaken to test the feasibility of using the LOCS III cataract grading scale in the field and to determine the rate of cataract progression over a 1 year period of time. METHODS For 150 subjects between the ages of 33 and 55 who attended the refraction clinic at Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, lens abnormalities were graded at the slit lamp using the LOCS III scale. One year later, 99 of the subjects were re-evaluated by the same methodology to assess the amount of lens change. RESULTS Interrater reliability was high. A change of 0.5 or more in lens colour, cortical, nuclear, or posterior subcapsular cataract was observed in at least one eye of 54% of the subjects. CONCLUSION The LOCS III grading scale is a feasible method for measuring lens changes in the field with the slit lamp. Cataract progression in India is rapid enough to permit intervention studies to be performed with relatively small numbers of subjects over a short period of time (that is, 600 subjects for 2 years).