Comparing the expected refractive status from immersion biometry and the achieved refractive status post-cataract surgery

Objective: To investigate the accuracy of Immersion A-Scan Biometry by comparing the relationship between the predicted refractive status from the biometric data with the achieved refractive status determined from objective/subjective refraction. Design and Methodology: Sixty patients were recruited from the Trinidad Eye Hospital (TEH) who was scheduled to undergo cataract surgery. The method of ocular biometry measurement used in this study was Immersion A-scan Biometry using the Aviso: The Ultrasound Platform. The biometric data was then recorded along with the expected refractive status based on the SRK-T formula used to calculate the power of the intra-occular lens (IOL) to be implanted. Results: Out of the 60 patients used, phacoemulsification surgery was performed on 33 right eyes and 27 left eyes. The goal of emmetropia after surgery was achieved in 32 patients among the 60 patients. The 28 patients that were unable to achieve emmetropia brought awareness to the assumptions of errors within the biometric data. The visual acuity was improved significantly in all patients after the phacoemulsification surgery. Conclusion: The study confirmed that there is no significant difference between the refractive status predicted from Immersion A-scan biometry with the refractive status achieved post cataract surgery.

Prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in Nigerians, Jamaicans and US blacks

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance and associated risk factors were compared in sample surveys in Africa and the Caribbean with the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES-III) from the United States. A total of 856 Nigerians, 1286 Jamaicans, and 1827 US blacks were included in the study. Body mass index (BMI) increased in a stepwise fashion across the three population groups, ie, 23 kg/m2 in Nigerians, 26 kg/m2 in Jamaicans, and 28 kg/m2 in US blacks. The persons aged 25-74, were 1 percent, 12 percent, 13 percent. Jamaican women were found to have the same prevalence of type 2 diabetes as US women (14 vs 13 percent, respectively); mean BMI was likewise very similar (28 kg/m2 in Jamaican and 29 kg/m2 in US women). BMI and waist-to-hip ratio were both associated with type 2 diabetes prevalence. Findings of this study confirm the marked gradient in type 2 diabetes risk among these genetically related populations and suggest that the blacks in the island nations of the Caribbean and the United States are at particularly high risk. Nigerians exhibited remarkably well-preserved glucose tolerance. Understanding the factors that limit the risk of type 2 diabetes in West Africa, beyond relative absence of obesity, would have considerable public health significance.(Au)

Heights and weights of primary schoolchildren in St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, West Indies

The heights and weights of 4,700 primary schoolchildren, predominantly of African origin and from lower socio-economic groups, aged 5-15 years were measured in St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla, typical islands in the Eastern Caribbean. The children resembled Jamaican children in size; they were bigger than London children measured in 1905-1912 and smaller than London children in 1959. Children in St. Kitts over 10 years were slightly bigger than those measured in a survey in 1954 but no consistent changes had occurred among younger children, a disapointing finding in view of the stress laid on child care and nutrition in recent years. The importance of collecting anthropometric data to establish standards for future comparisons is stressed.(Summary)