Abstract
To identify the frequency of ocular diseases among recipients of disability benefits in the metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil. A review was performed of 217,221 cases of disability benefits granted between 2010 and 2015 by the executive managerial department of the Brazilian National Institute of Social Security (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social [INSS]) in Recife, which encompasses 14 municipalities of the metropolitan region, including the capital. The frequencies of the identified cases of ocular morbidity were then determined according to their group in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), their cause, the age, sex, and income of the recipient, and the type and duration of the benefit. Of all disability benefits granted, 5,324 (2.5%) were due to ocular disease, the majority (91.1%) consisting of sick pay. Most of the beneficiaries (64.6%) were males, were 20 to 59 years of age, and 61.2% earned the minimum wage or less. The principal ocular diseases for which sick pay benefits were granted were cataract (24.5%), conjunctivitis (21.1%), and pterygium (8.8%). Blindness and low vision were the principal ocular diseases in cases of accident indemnity and disability retirement. The results highlight the magnitude of the problem of ocular diseases to the social security system, with serious economic and social losses, and emphasize the need for measures aimed at their prevention. Moreover, integration between the national departments of health and social security needs to be improved.
Highlights
Ocular disorders are among the most important diseases at present and constitute a major public health issue in Brazil, because of their impact on patients’ quality of life and because of the resulting occupational, economic, and social restrictions, including inability to work[1].Loss of vision in one eye can result in a 40% decrease in an individual’s ability to work, and loss of vision in both eyes can result in a complete inability to work[2]
The Brazilian National Institute of Social Security (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social [INSS]) uses the cri teria established in the World Health Organization International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps to define inability to work and the impossibility of performing the specific functions involved in an activity as a result of morphological, psychological, or physiological alterations caused by disease or accident[4,5,6]
The data were obtained from the executive manage rial department of the INSS in Recife and originated from a benefits database containing the records of all disability benefits granted
Summary
Ocular disorders are among the most important diseases at present and constitute a major public health issue in Brazil, because of their impact on patients’ quality of life and because of the resulting occupational, economic, and social restrictions, including inability to work[1].Loss of vision in one eye can result in a 40% decrease in an individual’s ability to work, and loss of vision in both eyes can result in a complete inability to work[2]. The Brazilian National Institute of Social Security (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social [INSS]) uses the cri teria established in the World Health Organization International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps to define inability to work and the impossibility of performing the specific functions involved in an activity (or occupation) as a result of morphological, psychological, or physiological alterations caused by disease or accident[4,5,6]. The package of benefits granted by the INSS to its insured population includes three types of benefit for disability resulting from disease or accident: sick pay in the event of temporary inability to work; accident indemnity, when after the injuries have been resolved there is a definitive sequel that implies partial inability; and disability retirement, when there is total and definitive inability to work[6]. Studies of disability retirement are almost nonexistent, and no studies were found of the frequency of sick pay and accident indemnity granted as a consequence of ocular diseases and specific types of ocular diseases
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