A district programme officer calculates that among all adults needing cataract surgery, 70 percent have been operated, but only 45 percent of operated eyes achieve a presenting visual acuity of 6/18 or better. The indicator that combines surgical delivery with quality of outcome is called:

• A Cataract Surgical Coverage (CSC)
• B Visual Impairment Prevalence Index
• C Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR)
• D Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) ✓

Explanation

Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage counts as 'covered' only those operated persons whose presenting visual acuity in the operated eye is 6/18 or better, divided by all persons needing surgery. Plain CSC ignores visual outcome and would overestimate effective service delivery, which is exactly the gap shown by the 70 versus 45 percent figures. CSR measures only the annual volume of surgeries per million population and says nothing about outcomes.

Reference: Khurana's Comprehensive Ophthalmology, 7th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.