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Abstract
Eye health and vision care are an important aspect of population level health. Underserved populations may experience health disparities due to limited resources, including access to quality relevant health care, language services, social and community support, education, and safety. To better characterize the scope and significance of eye disease in underserved communities, ocular phenotype, clinical and genetic data were collected in three distinct geographically isolated underserved populations including the Goshute American Indian population in Ibupah, Utah, the Navajo American Indian population of the Four Corners of the Intermountain West, and a Mayan population in Salama, Guatemala. Three cross-sectional studies were conducted to determine prevalence of blinding eye disease, including diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy, and factors that may be associated with the phenotypes. Each study participant was administered a standardized epidemiological questionnaire.
The most prevalent blinding eye disease in the Goshute American population was hypertensive retinopathy, while diabetic retinopathy was the most prevalent in the Navajo American Indian population. While both tribes are included in the 573 federally recognized tribes in the Unites States, they have individual eye health and vision care needs. Within a Mayan population in Salama, Guatemala the most prevalent eye condition was cataracts, followed by pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Genetic, clinical, environmental, and demographic risk factors were associated with each eye condition within these three distinct populations. Taken together, this work may aid in better directing disease screening resources within these populations. These three studies also may help to inform public health on planning and delivering of quality, accessible, and relevant care to this population. Eye health and vision care services and prevention methods that are developed at a broad level may not create the change needed to address health disparities between individual populations so they must be designed and tailored for each community.
