TY - JOUR

T1 - Socio-economic status in families affected by childhood cataract

AU - Al-Bakri, Moug

AU - Bach-Holm, Daniella

AU - Larsen, Dorte Ancher

AU - Siersma, Volkert

AU - Kessel, Line

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Purpose: To investigate the socio-economic status of families affected by childhood cataract and to assess how the socio-economic status is affected by cataract diagnosis. Materials and methods: Children born between 2000 and 2017, seen between the age 0 and 10 years in the same period at Rigshospitalet or Aarhus University Hospital for cataract (N = 485), were included and compared to a matched children group without cataract (N = 4358). Socio-economic status was evaluated by the parents’ income, employment, education, marital status and family structure. Results: Parents of children with cataract were more likely to have a low yearly income (OR = 1.60, 95% CI (1.12–2.27)), be out of work (OR = 1.74, 95% CI (1.34–2.26)) and have basic education as the highest attained education (OR = 1.64, 95% CI (1.27–2.13)) prior to diagnosis. This social gradient was not affected by the diagnosis. In addition, a higher number of children with cataract lived in multi-family residencies (13.8% versus 8% in group of children without cataract) and they had a greater number of siblings (6.2% had ≥4 siblings versus 2.1% in group of children without cataract). Conclusion: Families affected by childhood cataract have a lower socio-economic status and educational background even before cataract is diagnosed but the diagnosis does not aggravate the differences between these families and the background population. The lower socio-economic status and parental educational background should be taken into consideration in the management of these families.

AB - Purpose: To investigate the socio-economic status of families affected by childhood cataract and to assess how the socio-economic status is affected by cataract diagnosis. Materials and methods: Children born between 2000 and 2017, seen between the age 0 and 10 years in the same period at Rigshospitalet or Aarhus University Hospital for cataract (N = 485), were included and compared to a matched children group without cataract (N = 4358). Socio-economic status was evaluated by the parents’ income, employment, education, marital status and family structure. Results: Parents of children with cataract were more likely to have a low yearly income (OR = 1.60, 95% CI (1.12–2.27)), be out of work (OR = 1.74, 95% CI (1.34–2.26)) and have basic education as the highest attained education (OR = 1.64, 95% CI (1.27–2.13)) prior to diagnosis. This social gradient was not affected by the diagnosis. In addition, a higher number of children with cataract lived in multi-family residencies (13.8% versus 8% in group of children without cataract) and they had a greater number of siblings (6.2% had ≥4 siblings versus 2.1% in group of children without cataract). Conclusion: Families affected by childhood cataract have a lower socio-economic status and educational background even before cataract is diagnosed but the diagnosis does not aggravate the differences between these families and the background population. The lower socio-economic status and parental educational background should be taken into consideration in the management of these families.

KW - childhood cataract

KW - congenital cataract

KW - socio-economic status

U2 - 10.1111/aos.14768

DO - 10.1111/aos.14768

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33666374

AN - SCOPUS:85101977863

VL - 100

SP - 183

EP - 188

JO - Acta Ophthalmologica

JF - Acta Ophthalmologica

SN - 1755-375X

IS - 2

ER -