Prevalence and Causes of Blindness and Low Vision in Southern Sudan

Ngondi, Jeremiah; Ole-Sempele, Francis; Onsarigo, Alice; Matende, Ibrahim; Baba, Samson; Reacher, Mark; Matthews, Fiona E.; Brayne, Carol; Emerson, Paul M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030477

Cited by 53 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…However, reports from western countries indicate that AMD and glaucoma are the main causes of blindness in these countries. 5,6 In the Middle East, there are valuable reports from Pakistan, [7][8][9] Sudan, 10 Turkey, 11 and Iran. 12 Although many studies have been performed on ocular diseases in the Middle East in the recent years, they are not comparable in quantity with studies performed in East Asian countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual impairment in the 40- to 64-year-old population of Shahroud, Iran

Hashemi

Khabazkhoob

Emamian

et al. 2012

Eye

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Purpose To determine the prevalence of visual impairment by age and gender in Shahroud. Methods Using random cluster sampling, 6311 Shahroud inhabitants who were between 40 and 64 years old were invited for ophthalmological examinations. Visual acuity worse than 0.5 LogMAR (20/60) and 1.3 LogMAR (20/ 400) in the better eye was regarded as low vision and blindness, respectively. The cause of blindness was determined by an ophthalmologist and in a person with more than one cause, the most correctable cause was regarded as the main cause. Results This study was conducted on 5190 participants (response rate: 82.2%). On the basis of presenting visual acuity, the prevalence of low vision and blindness was found to be 1.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4-2.10) and 0.5% (95% CI: 0.3-0.7), respectively. Based on corrected vision, these values were 0.5% (95% CI: 0.3-0.7) and 0.3% (95% CI: 0.1-0.4), respectively. Visual impairment increased with age in women (Po0.001). Uncorrected refractive errors (63.9%), cataract (20.2%), and amblyopia (5.9%) were the most common causes of visual impairment based on presenting vision. Based on corrected vision, however, cataract (42.5%), amblyopia (12.5%), and retinitis pigmentosa (7.5%) were the most common causes of visual impairment. Conclusion Although the prevalence of visual impairment in the city of Shahroud was determined to be lower than two previous studies in the country, correction of refractive errors and cataract could minimize the rate of visual impairment in this population as they were shown to comprise 85% of the causes of visual impairment. The elderly women need to receive more attention.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual impairment in the 40- to 64-year-old population of Shahroud, Iran

Hashemi

Khabazkhoob

Emamian

et al. 2012

Eye

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“…Six of the 38 children had low vision due to more than three causes while 5 children had at least two causes. Table 1: Causes of low vision by age group vision in our study participant was higher than that reported from other Sub-Saharan Africa countries (Ezepue, 1997;Abu, 2002;Ngondi et al, 2006). Binocular low vision was common among the schoolchildren.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 48%

Prevalence and causes of low vision among schoolchildren in Kibaha District, Tanzania

Kingo

Ndawi²

2009

Tanzania J Hlth Res

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Low vision is a major cause of morbidity and has profound effects on the quality of life for many people as it inhibits/reduces mobility and economical well being of the affected individuals and their families. The objective of the study was to determine the magnitude and causes of low vision among primary school children in Kibaha district in Tanzania. Primary schoolchildren were recruited for the study. The inclusion criterion was individual child with low vision of less than 6/18. Visual examination was used for screening the children to identify those with vision less than 6/18. Snellen's chart was used to measure visual acuity of the children with low vision. A total of 400 (6-17 years) schoolchildren were screened. Thirty-eight (9.5%) had low vision. The prevalence of low vision was statistically higher (N=33; 87%) among 12-17years old than among 6-11 years old (13%) (P<0.05). Of the 38 children with low vision, the prevalence in females (68%) was statistically higher than in males (32%). There were multiples causes of low vision among affected children. Congenital anomalies accounted for the largest proportion (65%) of the causes of low vision. In twenty-three (60%) of the children (12-17 years), low vision was due to retinopathies. Fifty-five percent of the children with refractive error were aged between 6-11 years. Among the cases, 8 (54%) had low vision caused by uncorrected refractive errors while the rest (46%) were due to other types of refractive errors. Two children had corneal scars; one with central and another with whole corneal scar. In conclusion, prevalence of low vision among schoolchildren in Kibaha district is high and increases with age. The main causes are congenital anomalies. There is need for an early detection of the possible causes and appropriate treatment to reduce the condition among schoolchildren. It is therefore important that the district Council Health Management Team establishes school eye screening programme for early detection and treatment. It is equally important to strengthen advocacy programme targeting schoolchildren, teachers and caregivers on the public health importance of low vision.

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“…We thank the authors [1,2] for the two perspectives on our articles [3,4]. Our study estimated the prevalence of blindness in Mankien at 4%, which Kuper and Gilbert describe as being “beyond the range” of the studies reviewed by Pascolini et al [5].…”

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confidence: 95%