Indigenous eye health measures 2018

Measure 3.5: The number of Indigenous Australians who have had cataract surgery, as a proportion of those who have had cataract surgery plus those who have vision loss (visual acuity worse than 6/12) and cataracts in 1 or both eyes (National Eye Health survey definition).

The coverage rate captures both those with the conditions who have and have not had cataract surgery.

• In 2016, the NEHS cataract surgical coverage rate for Indigenous Australians was 59%. This was significantly lower than the rate for non-Indigenous Australians (89%).
• The estimated cataract surgical coverage rate for Indigenous Australian was lowest for those aged 40–49 (43%) and highest for those aged 70–79 (73%).
• Cataract surgical coverage rates for Indigenous Australians did not differ significantly by sex or remoteness.