Blindness and visual impairment among adults in a Tertiary Eye Clinic, in Osogbo S W Nigeria

Abstract

Background:To plan and implement appropriate management of patients with blindness and visual impairment (VI) requires the knowledge of the common presenting causes.Aim:The aim of the following study is to determine the common causes of VI in adults and develop a template for eye care delivery.Materials and Methods:A retrospective descriptive analysis of subjects aged 17 years and above who attended LAUTECH Teaching Hospital eye clinic between October 2012 and March 2013. Information on demographic data, visual acuity, anterior and posterior segment examinations, and refraction were obtained from patients’ records. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16. 2, USA was used for descriptive analysis. Chi-square, P values and confidence intervals (CI) were derived for statistical significance.Results:A total of 617 cases were reviewed including 306/617 (49.6%) males and 311/617 (50.4%) females. The frequently occurring age-groups were the 51-60 year 120/617 (19.4%) and the 61-70 year 115/617 (18.6%). The common causes of blindness and VI were cataract 225/617 (36.5%, CI: 32.7-40.3), glaucoma 124/617 (20.1%, CI: 16.93-23.25), refractive errors 119/617 (19.3%, CI: 16.17-22.4); trauma and cornea opacities 14/617 (6.1%) each. Refractive error 6/176 (3.4%) was a significant cause of blindness in this study. χ2 = 33.68, P < 0.001. More females presented with refractive errors 79/311 (66.4%), while more males presented with trauma 32/306 (78.0%). χ2 = 186.47, P < 0.001.Conclusions:The common causes of VI are avoidable. Planning for best practice methods, purchase of equipment/instruments, consumables, drugs, and manpower development is required. Establishment of low-cost cataract surgical and refractive services could reduce their incidence.

Proportion, Causes and Associated Factors of Blindness Among Adult Patients Attending Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center in Ethiopia

“…The present study found that almost fifty percent of blindness was contributed by cataract (49.5%) and glaucoma accounted for 18.8% of blindness. This result is similar to others hospital-based studies in Yemen, 17 South Jordan, 18 Cameroon, 19 Nigeria, 7 South Africa, 6 and Ghana 8 ( Table 6 ). The possible reason for these avoidable conditions as the leading causes of blindness worldwide particularly in developing countries might be due to the nature of the condition is age related.…”

“…The proportion of presenting blindness in this study was 14.3% (95% CI: 11.8–16.8). The finding of this study is lower compared to Nigeria 28.5%, 7 and Ghana 28.9%, 8 whose blind patients were predominately female differing from our patients. Females have a higher risk to develop blindness than males.…”

Pattern of Ocular Disorders in A Semi-Urban Community in Rivers State, Nigeria. --Implications for Eye Care Planning and Budgeting

“…The reason may be that men are more financially able to afford eye care unlike the women and in polygamous settings older wives tend to be neglected in favour of the youngest one. So if their grown children are not available or are unable to take financial responsibility for their health they remain This agrees with similar studies done at Enugu, Southeastern Nigeria[11], Northern Nigeria[12] and other parts of the country[13][14][15] From table 1 the visual acuity was greater than 6/18 in the right eyes of 79.8% and the left eyes of 78.8% of the participants, so it is not surprising that the 41 -50 years age group was the largest group, since these are presbyopic people with good distance vision. In Nigeria, its around this age that many patients come out of denial and get reading glasses for the first time.…”

Impact of visual impairment and blindness on quality of life of patients in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

“…[19] In contrast, a hospital-based retrospective study reported cataract (36.5%), glaucoma (20.1%), and refractive errors (19.3%) as the common causes of visual impairment. [20] The latter however excluded patients with mild visual impairment from their study, and this may have contributed to the low frequency of refractive error. A community-based study also in Imo state reported uncorrected refractive error (31.6%), glaucoma (23.5%), and cataract (12.5%) as the leading causes of visual impairment.…”