Visual Impairment and Blindness among Patients at Nigeria Army Eye Centre, Bonny Cantonment Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Visual impairment (VI) is a public health problem that can affect an individual’s social wellbeing. The study aims to determine the distribution and causes of vision impairment (VI) and blindness among patients at Nigerian Army Eye Centre Lagos, Nigeria. Method: An institutional cross-sectional study was conducted, and a systematic random sampling technique was used to enrol study participants from their medical records. Information about their demography, presenting visual acuity (VA), best corrected visual acuity and cause of VI and blindness, were retrieved. Result: A total of five hundred (500) medical records of patients aged from 4 to 96 years, with a mean age of 54.07 ± 21.43 years, were considered for the study. Among the participants, more than half were males (51.2%) and ≥60 years (53.0%). A large (47.2%) proportion of the patients had moderate VI at the time of presentation, followed by blindness (22.0%). The major cause of blindness was cataract, while glaucoma and refractive error were the major causes of VI. Blindness and VI were significantly associated with the type of VI before and after the provision of intervention (p < 0.05) across different age groups (children, youths, adults, elderly) with an adjusted p < 0.003 after an intervention. Conclusions: Cataracts, glaucoma and uncorrected refractive error (URE) were the major causes of VI and blindness in Lagos State. VI was more prevalent in males than females; however, there was no significant difference between the two proportions. The prevalence of VI among age groups was more significant for those 60 years and above. Early screening for the detection and management of cataract, URE and glaucoma is highly advised to reduce the burden of VI.

Prevalence and Pattern of Visual Impairment among Adult Population in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria

“…The leading causes of preventable visual impairment in the studied area were cataracts (10.2%), refractive errors (8.4%), glaucoma (7.0%), age-related macular degeneration (4.1%), and diabetic retinopathy (2.1%). This is in consonance with the study carried out by Hudu et al in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria, [37], Nigeria Army Eye Centre, Bonny Cantonment Lagos, Nigeria, [38] as well as in other countries [39][40][41][42].…”

Sonographic Evaluation of Doppler Parameters Within the Central Retinal Artery: A Cohort Study

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Globally, there are more than 2.2 billion visually impaired people, and diabetic retinopathy accounts for nearly 3.9 million of these cases, of which 2.8% are Nigerians. 1,2 Retinopathy is a medical condition in which the retina is damaged, due to irregular blood flow in the central retinal artery (CRA). 3,4 The flow pattern and velocimetry of the CRA serves as an informational model for diseases like hypertension and diabetes mellitus, which could cause vision loss and damage to the eye.

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