Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and main causes of blindness and visual impairment in population aged 50 years and older in Armenia using Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness RAAB methodology. Methods: The study team randomly selected 50 clusters each consisting of 50 people from all 11 regions of Armenia.
Data on participants' demographics, presenting visual acuity, pinhole visual acuity, principal cause of presenting visual acuity, spectacle coverage, uncorrected refractive error URE , and presbyopia were collected using the RAAB survey form.
Four teams of trained eye care professionals completed data collection in Results: Overall, 2, people of 50 years and older participated in the study.
The age- and gender- adjusted prevalence of bilateral blindness, severe and moderate visual impairment were 1. The main causes of blindness were cataract About The prevalence of bilateral blindness and functional low vision increased with age and was the highest in participants 80 years and older.
Conclusion: The rate of bilateral blindness was comparable with findings from countries that share similar background and confirmed that untreated cataract was the main cause of blindness.
