简介：AIM:TodescribetheprevalenceanddemographiccharacteristicsofcornealblindnessinanurbanandruralregionofNingxia,locatedinthenorthwestpartofChina.METHODS:Astratified,randomizedsamplingprocedurewasemployedinthestudy,includingurbanandruralareaofallagegroup.Visualacuity,anteriorsegmentandocularfunduswerechecked.Relatedfactorofcornealdisease,includingage,gender,educationstatus,ethnicgroup,locationandoccupation,wereidentifiedaccordingtouniformcustomizedprotocol.Aneyewasdefinedtobecornealblindnessifthevisualacuitywas<20/400duetoacornealdisease.RESULTS:Threethousandindividuals(1290fromurbanareaand1710fromruralarea)participatedintheinvestigation,witharesponserateof80.380%.Theprevalenceofcornealblindnesswas0.023%inbotheyesand0.733%inatleastoneeye.Theblindnessinatleastoneeyewithvariedcauseswaspresentin106participants(3.533%)andinbilateraleyesin34participants(1.133%).Thecornealdiseasesaccountedfor20.754%ofblindnessinatleastoneeyeand20.588%ofbilateralblindness.TheprevalenceofcornealdiseasewashigherinolderandHanethnicgroup,especiallythosewhooccupiedinagricultureandoutdoorwork.Peoplewithcornealblindnessweremorelikelytobeolderandlowereducation.Ruralpopulationweremorelikelytosufferfrombilateralcornealblindnessthantheurbanpopulationin≥59-yeargroup(χ2=6.716,P=0.019).Infectious,traumaandimmunecornealdiseasewerethethreeleadingcausesofcornealdisease.Traumacornealdiseasewasmorelikelyleadingtoblindnessinoneeye.However,infectiousandimmunecornealdiseasesmakemorecontributiontothebilateralcornealblindness.CONCLUSION:CornealblindnessisasignificantburdenofinNingxiapopulation,encompassingavarietyofcornealinfectionsandtrauma;themajorityofthosewereavoidable.Healthpromotionstrategiesandgoodhygienicconditionshavetobedeveloped.