TY - JOUR A1 - Dhaliwal, Upreet A1 - Gupta, Sunil T1 - Barriers to the uptake of cataract surgery in patients presenting to a hospital Y1 - 2007/3/1 JF - Indian Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Indian J Ophthalmol SP - 133 EP - 136 VL - 55 IS - 2 UR - https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2007;volume=55;issue=2;spage=133;epage=136;aulast=Dhaliwal DO - 10.4103/0301-4738.30708 N2 - Purpose: To assess the barriers for the acceptance of surgery among patients with cataract and visual disability. Materials and Methods: A short-term descriptive study was conducted in patients with cataract presenting to a hospital. Socio-demographic data were entered in a proforma. An interviewer-assisted questionnaire, surveying knowledge about cataract and barriers to cataract surgery, was administered by one of the authors (SKG) in the local language (Hindi). Results: There were 100 patients (53 men and 47 women); 14 were bilaterally blind (vision <10/200 in the better eye). Attitudinal barriers included: could manage daily work (71%), cataract not mature (68%), could see clearly with the other eye (64%), too busy (57%), female gender (37%), fear of surgery (34%), fear of surgery causing blindness (33%) or death (13%), old age (33%), it is God's will (29%) and worry about cost of surgery (27%). The barriers relating to service delivery, cost, and affordability included: insufficient family income (76%), not knowing another person who had undergone cataract surgery (26%), no one to accompany (20%), distance from hospital (20%) or from a main road (9%) and lack of transport (7%). Conclusions: Attitudinal barriers were reported more often, rather than issues of accessibility or cost. Eye care providers should address the identified barriers for increasing acceptance of surgery in the study area. ER -