RESUMO
Purpose: To examine the 6-year incidence of visual impairment (VI) and identify risk factors associated with VI in a multiethnic Asian population. Design: Prospective, population-based, cohort study. Participants: Adults aged ≥ 40 years were recruited from the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases cohort study at baseline. Eligible subjects were re-examined after 6 years. Subjects included in the final analysis had a mean age of 56.1 ± 8.9 years, and 2801 (50.5%) were female. Methods: All participants underwent standardized examination and interviewer-administered questionnaire at baseline. Incidences were standardized to the Singapore Population Census 2010. A Poisson binomial regression model was used to evaluate the associations between baseline factors and incident presenting VI. Main Outcome Measures: Incident presenting VI was assessed at the 6-year follow-up visit. Visual impairment (presenting visual acuity < 20/40), low vision (presenting visual acuity < 20/40 but ≥ 20/200), and blindness (presenting visual acuity < 20/200) were defined based on United States definition. Results: A total of 5551 subjects (2188 Chinese, 1837 Indians, and 1526 Malays) were evaluated, of whom 514 developed incident presenting VI over 6 years. Malays had a higher incidence of low vision and blindness (13.0%; 0.6%) than Indians (7.0%; 0.1%) and Chinese (7.7%; 0.2%). Among Malay individuals with VI at baseline, 52.8% remained visually impaired after 6 years, which was considerably higher than Chinese (32.4%) and Indians (37.2%). Older age (per decade; relative risk [RR] = 1.59), a history of cardiovascular disease (RR = 1.38), current smoking (RR = 1.31), smaller housing type (1- to 2-room public flat; RR = 2.01), and no formal education (RR = 1.63) at baseline were associated with a higher risk of incident VI (all P ≤ 0.027). Older age (> 60 years) contributed the highest population attributable risk to incident VI (27.1%), followed by lower monthly income (Singapore dollar < $2000; 26.4%) and smaller housing type (24.7%). Overall, undercorrected refractive error (49.1%) and cataract (82.6%) were leading causes for low vision and blindness, respectively. This was consistently observed across the 3 ethnicities. Conclusions: In this multiethnic Asian population, Malays had a higher VI incidence compared to Indians and Chinese. Leading causes of VI are mostly treatable, suggesting that more efforts are needed to further mitigate preventable visual loss. Financial Disclosures: The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
RESUMO
Aims: To describe and compare the clinical features of patients with acute metaldehyde toxicity from suicidal and accidental ingestion of metaldehyde, and to elucidate factors influencing early treatment and disposition. Methods: We undertook a systematic review and retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute toxicity from ingesting metaldehyde. Results: Twenty-one cases identified between 1965 and 2021 were analyzed. The median age was 32 years (range, 3-68 years), and two-thirds of patients experienced symptoms (14/21, 67%). In symptomatic patients, gastrointestinal symptoms were present in two-thirds (9/14, 64%), and half experienced neurologic complications (8/14, 57%); of those with neurologic complications, half experienced seizures (8/14, 57%). There were near-equal cases of accidental and suicidal poisoning. Those who attempted suicide were likelier to develop symptoms (90% versus 45%, P = 0.031), experience seizures (60% versus 18%, P = 0.049), require intensive care (50% versus 9%, P = 0.038), and suffer longer hospitalizations (13.3 days versus 2.9 days, P = 0.005), despite no statistically significant differences in the doses of metaldehyde consumed when compared against patients with accidental ingestion (9.04 g versus 2.03 g, P = 0.09). Conclusion: The circumstances in which metaldehyde is consumed heavily influence clinical symptoms and outcomes. Early and close observation for seizures and adopting a lowered threshold for escalation to the intensive care unit are recommended in patients attempting suicide even when the dose ingested cannot be determined at that time, which is common during the early phases of treatment.