Pattern of ocular morbidity amongst patients of elderly age group in Central India

Abstract

Elderly population in India is rapidly on an increase due to increased life expectancy. Visual status is one of the most important health quality indicators for the elderly who are highly prone to develop various eye diseases which form a major health problem to them. So we have tried to study the pattern of ocular morbidity in this age group, to understand the risk factors responsible for blindness in the elderly so that we can focus on the preventive measures that we can adopt to avoid this. In our hospital bassed cross sectional study 500 patients above 50 years of age were taken. Detailed history based on pre-prepaired questionare was taken followed by complete ocular examination and relevant investigations to diagnose the ocular disease in these elderly people. We found that refractive errors followed by cataract were found to be the most common ocular problems in our sample population. Various risk factors like age, gender, residence, educational status, socio-economic status, hypertension, diabetes, cooking fuel used, smoking, alcoholism, and tobacco consumption were tabulated and there significance in causing ocular morbidity and blindness was studied. Finally we concluded that there is a high incidence of ocular morbidity in old age individuals most of the causes being either treatable or preventable. Therefore the focus should be on providing affordable quality eye care services at both the urban and rural areas so that we can prevent ocular morbity and blindness in these elderly individuals specially those with low educational and socioeconomic status.

Ophthalmological conditions among elderly patients attending a private eye care facility in Malawi: A retrospective study

“… 1 The frequency of eye morbidities increases at around 40 years of age and reaches a peak at 60 years of age. 2 Despite the fact that the elderly population is prone to develop various ocular morbidities, 3 they are however an often‐neglected populace in terms of health care service delivery especially as it pertains to these ocular morbidities. 4 Noteworthy, eye morbidities among the elderly continue to receive less attention and priority in most developing countries.…”

Establishing the profile of eye diseases among elderly patients attending a tertiary hospital in Northern Malawi

“…Eye morbidities are critical because they can lead to blindness 6 . Apparently, visual status is a key life indicator for the elderly 7 since various eye diseases can lead to visual impairment causing grave socioeconomic consequences for the individual, the health care system and the community 7 , 8 . A great challenge for healthcare lies in development of proper assessment techniques, intervention strategies including rehabilitation therapy that best suits the needs of the elderly 4 .…”

Ophthamological Conditions Among Elderly Patients Attending a Private Eye Care Facility in Malawi.

“…The frequency of eye morbidities increases at around 40 years of age and reaches a peak at 60 years of age [2]. Despite the fact that the elderly population is prone to develop various ocular morbidities [3], they are however an often-neglected populace in terms of health care service delivery especially as it pertains to these ocular morbidities [4]. Noteworthy, eye morbidities among the elderly continue to receive less attention and priority in most developing countries [1,5].…”