Prevalence and pattern of retinal diseases at the Guinness Eye Hospital, Onitsha, Nigeria

Abstract

Retinal diseases may be a significant cause of blindness and visual impairment in this part of Nigeria. Since most of the diseases are treatable with laser and vitrectomy techniques, it is recommended that these facilities be provided in all major eye hospitals in the area.

The burden and spectrum of vitreo-retinal diseases among ophthalmic outpatients in a resource-deficient tertiary eye care setting in South-Eastern Nigeria

“…This disease distribution is consistent with the patterns previously reported in Nigeria34 but contrasts the findings of Abiose2 in Lagos, and Teshome et al 5. in Ethiopia.…”

“…These findings are consistent with previous reports from similar studies elsewhere in Nigeria34 and Ethiopia5 but differ from the gender distribution documented in a population-based study in Iran 6. While the established pro-male gender bias in access to and uptake of eye care services10 may explain the observed male dominance, the age distribution could be attributed to the preponderance of age-related retinal diseases in this study.…”

“…Compared with previous hospital based studies2–5, the 3.9% hospital prevalence of retinal diseases in a tertiary care center in this study is similar to 5.3%2 and 8.1%3 rates reported in Nigeria but lower than 13.0%4 reported from another survey in Nigeria and 12.5%5 in Ethiopia. The paucity of equipment and skills for the diagnosis of retinal diseases at the study center probably lead to under-diagnosis of these conditions thus accounting for the low prevalence rate in this study.…”

“…To confront this emerging public health challenge, there is the obvious need to provide affordable and accessible diagnostic and therapeutic facilities, and appropriately trained ophthalmic personnels 34…”

Is age-related macular degeneration a problem in Ibadan, Sub-Saharan Africa?

“…The disease was initially thought to be uncommon in people with dark skin living in developing countries,2 but recent studies have shown that it is more prevalent in developing countries such as India3 and Nigeria4 than previously thought. AMD has also been shown to be an important cause of poor vision in the western5–7 and southeastern8,9 parts of Nigeria.…”