Prevalence and demographic profile of keratoconus among high school students in Kenya

Abstract

Background To determine the prevalence and demographic profile of keratoconus (KC) among high school students in Nairobi County, Kenya. Methods In this population-based, prospective, cross-sectional study, multistage cluster sampling was used to select the participants. All students underwent visual acuity measurement, auto-refraction, retinoscopy and corneal topography. Students with corneal topography patterns suspicious of KC were referred for corneal tomography. Results A total of 3 051 students from 29 schools, with a mean age of 17.4 ± 1.6 years (range: 13–25 years) were screened. The prevalence of KC was 1.7% (n = 51) (95% CI, 1.2–2.2) and of KC suspects was 3.8% (n = 117) (95% CI, 3.2–4.6). There were no significant associations between the prevalence of KC and gender, age or ethnicity (all p > 0.05). In the KC group, 88.2% (n = 45) were unaware of their condition, 52.9% (n = 27) were treated for allergic conjunctivitis, 45.1% (n = 23) required spectacles, 11.8% (n = 6) were recommended contact lenses in at least one eye and 49.0% (n = 25) were recommended corneal cross-linking. Conclusions