Prevalence and associated factors of vision loss in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1)

Table 1 Description of the sample

	n	%
Total	4346	100.0
Age (mean, S.D.)	39.1	18.1
15–44	2712	72.1
45–54	671	13.1
55–64	527	8.2
≥ 65	436	6.6
Sex
Males	1541	44.4
Females	2805	55.6
Ethnicity
African	3054	78.4
White	87	8.4
Mixed race	995	10.4
Indian/Asian	210	2.8
Highest Education
No formal schooling/Gr0–7	1477	23.9
Grade 8–12 (or equivalent)	2624	66.0
Higher education	245	10.0
Employed
No	3263	71.4
Yes	1083	28.6
Urban/Rural residence
Rural	1722	37.5
Urban	2624	62.5
Province
Western Cape	749	14.0
Eastern Cape	594	12.7
Northern Cape	326	2.8
Free State	309	5.5
KwaZulu Natal	678	19.4
North West	382	5.1
Gauteng	414	21.7
Mpumalanga	518	7.8
Limpopo	376	11.1
Self-reported diagnosis of diabetes
No previous diabetes diagnosis	4030	94.0
Previous diabetes diagnosis	316	6.0
Years since last eye examination
≤ 2 years	761	19.5
3–5 years	266	6.2
> 5 years	172	5.4
Never	3147	68.9
Do you use eyeglasses or contact lenses to see far away^a
Yes	468	13.8
No	3852	86.2
Do you use eyeglasses or contact lenses to see up close^a
Yes	600	17.3
No	3699	82.7
In the last 30 days, how difficult was it to see & recognize an object or a person you know across the road (from a distance of about 20 m)?^a
None	3367	83.8
Mild	408	8.1
Moderate	270	5.0
Severe	162	3.1
In the last 30 days, how difficult was it to see & recognize an object at arm’s length^a
None	3348	83.3
Mild	452	8.7
Moderate	256	5.0
Severe	148	3.0

n, frequency; %, percentage of the frequency; ^atotals per category do not always add to overall total due to missing data and non-response (the number of missing observations for the last 4 variables; using visual aids to see far away, using visual aids to see up close, difficulty in seeing objects from across the road and difficulty in seeing objects at arm’s length; were 26, 47, 139, and 142 respectively)

ISSN: 1471-2415