Objectives: To assess and compare the refractive status and intraocular pressures of children attending the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital Eye clinic. Materials and Methods: The study was a hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study in children aged 5- 18 years attending the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital Eye clinic. Participants were sampled in 2 groups of equal numbers: children without refractive error (emmetropes) and children with refractive error. Each group had cycloplegic refraction, intraocular pressure measurement using Pulsair tonometer, and a full ocular examination. Results: A total of 234 children with 117 in each group. Myopia was the more common refractive error, accounting for 75.2% and 77.8% in the right and left eyes respectively. The mean intraocular pressure was 14.72mmHg for emmetropia, 15.97mmHg for myopia, and 14.93mmHg for hyperopia in the right eye while 15.02mmHg for emmetropia, 16.05mmHg for myopia, and 13.78mmHg for hyperopia on the left eye. A significant positive correlation was obtained between myopia and intraocular pressure (Pearson correlation, r = 0.151, p = 0.010 for the right eye and r = 0.201, p=0.001 for the left eye). Conclusion: The higher levels of mean IOP seen in myopia compared to emmetropia and hyperopia demonstrates that children with myopia may likely develop glaucoma earlier compared to others. Therefore, more emphasis should be placed on glaucoma surveillance among myopic children.
Objective: To determine the pattern of eye disorders among Nigerian Niger Delta region residents as a basis for preventive ophthalmology. Methodology: This study was a retrospective study involving an eleven-year cumulative review of clinical records from the Ophthalmology Clinic of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Data on eye disorders were retrieved from the Ophthalmology Clinic records and manually entered into a computer-spread sheet. Double entry check was performed to avoid errors in computer entry. The respective eye disorders from the records were summed to obtain the absolute and relative cumulative frequencies and appropriately presented using horizontal bar chart. Data analyzed with United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epi-Info version 7 software. Results: The cumulative total record from the Ophthalmology Clinic was 55,109 from a total of 41 eye disorders. The absolute and relative frequencies of the identified eye disorders from the clinic are presented in horizontal bar chart. The top five ocular disorders were glaucoma (26.97%), refractive error (26.06%), cataract (10.60%), allergic conjunctivitis (9.31%) and bacterial conjunctivitis (5.02%) while the least common cases seen include pan uveitis (0.08%), herpes zoster ophthalmicus (0.07%) pingueculum (0.07%), painful blind eye (0.06%) and orbital cellulitis (0.05%). The anterior segment subspecialty (34.76%) accounted for majority of cases seen followed by glaucoma subspecialty (26.97%), oculoplasty (4.04%), vitreo-retinal (2.4%), paediatric (0.74%), neuro-ophthalmology (0.7%). Cases which cut-across more than one subspecialty group accounted for 28.19%. Conclusion: The commonest eye disorders identified in this study are among the major causes of avoidable blindness in developing countries including Nigeria. To reduce the burden of blindness and visual impairment would involve a concerted effort to tackle these disorders especially by developing the various ophthalmic subspecialties.
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