{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T04:25:45Z","timestamp":1772252745650,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,17]],"date-time":"2021-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631836800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Vision impairments and related blindness are major public health problems. The prevalence of eye disease and barriers to optimal care markedly vary among different geographic areas. In the Abruzzo region (central Italy), an epidemiological surveillance on the state of ocular health in the population aged over 50 years was performed in 2019. Materials and Methods: Participants were sampled to be representative of the region\u2019s inhabitants. Data were collected through a telephone interview and an eye examination. Prevalence of cataract, glaucoma, retinopathy, and maculopathy was assessed. The Cohen\u2019s kappa (k) was used to measure the agreement between the presence of eye disease and awareness of the disease by the participants. Results: Overall, 983 people with a mean age of 66.0 \u00b1 9.5 years were included in the study. The prevalence of cataracts, glaucoma, maculopathy, and retinopathy was 52.6%, 5.3%, 5.6%, and 29.1%, respectively. Among the total of the affected people, those aware of their condition were 21.8% (k = 0.12, slight agreement) for cataract, 65.4% (k = 0.78, substantial agreement) for glaucoma, 7.1% (k = 0.10, slight agreement) for maculopathy, and 0% for retinopathy (k = \u22120.004, agreement lower than that expected by chance). Refractive defects were corrected in the vast majority of participants. Conclusion: In the Abruzzo region, about two thirds of citizens aged 50 years or over suffer from cataract, glaucoma, retinopathy, or maculopathy, which are recognized as leading causes of blindness. Many people with eye disease do not know they have it. These data can be used by clinicians and policymakers to undertake clinical, political, and social actions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina57090978","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,18]],"date-time":"2021-09-18T00:13:47Z","timestamp":1631924027000},"page":"978","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Epidemiological Surveillance of Eye Disease and People Awareness in the Abruzzo Region, Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"57","author":[{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Mastropasqua","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5383-5173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rossella","family":"D\u2019Aloisio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Mastrocola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fabiana","family":"Perna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Italian National Centre of Services and Research for the Prevention of Blindness and Rehabilitation of the Visually Impaired-WHOCC, IAPB Italy Onlus-FPG IRCCS, 00185 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Cerino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5905-6944","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Loredana","family":"Cerbara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, Italian National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS), 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Filippo","family":"Cruciani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Italian National Centre of Services and Research for the Prevention of Blindness and Rehabilitation of the Visually Impaired-WHOCC, IAPB Italy Onlus-FPG IRCCS, 00185 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5311-5184","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lisa","family":"Toto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D\u2019Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1164","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(17)30412-6","article-title":"Global causes of vision loss in 2015: Are we on track to achieve the Vision 2020 target?","volume":"5","author":"Sabanayagam","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"322","DOI":"10.1136\/bjo.85.3.322","article-title":"Vision impairment predicts 5 years mortality","volume":"85","author":"McCarty","year":"2001","journal-title":"Br. J. Ophthalmol"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1788","DOI":"10.1001\/archopht.119.12.1788","article-title":"Prevalence and causes of visual field loss in the elderly and associations with impairment in daily functioning: The Rotterdam Study","volume":"119","author":"Ramrattan","year":"2001","journal-title":"Arch. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e888","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(17)30293-0","article-title":"Magnitude, temporal trends, and projections of the global prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"5","author":"Bourne","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1221","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(17)30393-5","article-title":"Global causes of blindness and distance vision impairment 1990\u20132020: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"5","author":"Flaxman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.2307\/2529310","article-title":"The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data","volume":"33","author":"Landis","year":"1977","journal-title":"Biometrics"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"477","DOI":"10.1001\/archopht.122.4.477","article-title":"Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States","volume":"122","author":"Congdon","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arch. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/j.survophthal.2011.07.002","article-title":"Causes of blindness and visual impairment in Latin America","volume":"57","author":"Furtado","year":"2012","journal-title":"Surv. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1134.e1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2006.01.035","article-title":"Causes of blindness and visual impairment in urban and rural areas in Beijing: The Beijing Eye Study","volume":"113","author":"Xu","year":"2006","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.5694\/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06815.x","article-title":"Vision loss in Australia","volume":"182","author":"Taylor","year":"2005","journal-title":"Med. J. Aust."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.eye.6701934","article-title":"Prevalence of blindness and low vision in an Italian population: A comparison with other European studies","volume":"20","author":"Cedrone","year":"2006","journal-title":"Eye (Lond.)"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.3109\/09286586.2011.574334","article-title":"The prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in Italy (PAMDI) study: Report 1","volume":"18","author":"Piermarocchi","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ophthalmic Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Haddad, M.F., Bakkar, M.M., and Abdo, N. (2017). Public awareness of common eye diseases in Jordan. BMC Ophthalmol., 17.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12886-017-0575-3"},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"96","article-title":"Awareness of eye diseases in an urban population in southern India","volume":"79","author":"Dandona","year":"2001","journal-title":"Bull. World Health Organ."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shrestha, M.K., Guo, C.W., Maharjan, N., Gurung, R., and Ruit, S. (2014). Health literacy of common ocular diseases in Nepal. BMC Ophthalmol., 14.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2415-14-2"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1442-9071.1997.tb01516.x","article-title":"Knowledge and beliefs about common eye diseases","volume":"25","author":"Attebo","year":"1997","journal-title":"Aust. N. Z. J. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"305","article-title":"Awareness and knowledge of common eye diseases among the academic staff (non-medical faculties) of University of Malaya","volume":"59","author":"Chew","year":"2004","journal-title":"Med. J. Malays."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"617","DOI":"10.1016\/S0008-4182(06)80035-9","article-title":"Awareness of eye diseases and risk factors: Identifying needs for health education and promotion in Canada","volume":"41","author":"Noertjojo","year":"2006","journal-title":"Can. J. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.4103\/0301-4738.55073","article-title":"Determinants of glaucoma awareness and knowledge in urban Chennai","volume":"57","author":"Sathyamangalam","year":"2009","journal-title":"Indian J. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"655","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2007.05.034","article-title":"Prevalence of primary angle-closure disease in an urban south Indian population and comparison with a rural population. The Chennai Glaucoma Study","volume":"115","author":"Vijaya","year":"2008","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"648","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2007.04.062","article-title":"Prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma in an urban south Indian population and comparison with a rural population. The Chennai Glaucoma Study","volume":"115","author":"Vijaya","year":"2008","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1136\/bjophthalmol-2017-311258","article-title":"Prevalence and causes of vision loss in high-income countries and in Eastern and Central Europe in 2015: Magnitude, temporal trends and projections","volume":"102","author":"Bourne","year":"2018","journal-title":"Br. J. Ophthalmol."}],"container-title":["Medicina"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/57\/9\/978\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:01:11Z","timestamp":1760166071000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/57\/9\/978"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,17]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]}},"alternative-id":["medicina57090978"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/medicina57090978","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.20944\/preprints202107.0379.v1","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1648-9144"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1648-9144","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,17]]}}}