Prevalence of ocular morbidities in pediatric age group at a tertiary care hospital: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Ocular morbidities affecting the children result in a serious health and economic burden and negatively impacts their developmental milestones. This study was performed to assess the prevalence and pattern of ocular diseases, and to know the common causes of childhood blindness amongst the children aged 0-15 years.This was a single centre, cross-sectional observational study performed in the Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Latur, Maharashtra, India and involved 380 children, aged 0-15 years, presenting with different ocular morbidities. The study was performed over a period of 18 months i.e., from January 2018 to June 2019. A detailed history and ophthalmic examination (consisting of visual acuity, color vision, refraction, cycloplegic refraction, anterior segment examination, fundus examination, and detection of squint) were performed to evaluate different ocular diseases.Majority of the cases were males (52.9%), and belonged to 11-15 years of age group (53.9%). Amongst all the presenting ocular complaints, diminution of vision (34.50%) followed by headache (9.20%), and itching in eyes (8.20%) were most prevalent. Majority of the cases had good visual acuity [(best-corrected visual acuity) >6/18, 65.50%]. While, severe visual impairment was observed in 2.90% cases. Refractive errors (31.60%) followed by allergic conjunctivitis (19.20%) were the most commonly observed ocular disorders. Moreover, myopia (43.33%) was the commonest refractive error. Similarly, amongst cases with ocular infection, most commonly observed condition was infective conjunctivitis (24.44%). Finally, congenital cataract (27.91%) and blunt ocular trauma (52.63%) were the most frequently observed congenital ocular disease and cause of ocular trauma respectively among children. Findings of this study highlight that the majority of the pediatric ocular morbidities are both preventable and treatable. However, efforts should be directed towards health education and screening programs in children.

Spectrum of ocular disease in children aged between 0 and 3 years at an Australian paediatric tertiary hospital

“…In this study, the spectrum of ocular disease in children between the age of 0 and 36 months presenting to an Australian tertiary paediatric hospital was evaluated. There have been analogous studies examining the spectrum of ocular disease at a paediatric tertiary hospital in Africa, the Middle East and India, albeit with broader age ranges and smaller sample sizes 5–14 . To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in Australia and more widely in the developed world.…”

“…There have been analogous studies examining the spectrum of ocular disease at a paediatric tertiary hospital in Africa, the Middle East and India, albeit with broader age ranges and smaller sample sizes. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in Australia and more widely in the developed world. Strikingly, there is an absence of studies structurally analogous to ours from the European, Pacific or American regions.…”

“…4 There have been studies in other countries which have examined the spectrum of paediatric ocular disease presenting to tertiary hospitals, but none in Australia. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Furthermore, these studies have broader age ranges, smaller sample sizes, and are largely based in developing countries, which have a different spectrum of paediatric eye health compared to developed countries. In developing countries, vitamin A deficiency, corneal scarring from measles and infection are the major causes of visual impairment.…”

“…Although there are broad population‐based reports on the eye health among Australian children, there exists no significant breakdown of paediatric ocular presentations, especially among infants 4 . There have been studies in other countries which have examined the spectrum of paediatric ocular disease presenting to tertiary hospitals, but none in Australia 5–14 …”