Frequency of Different Ocular Conditions Leading to Ocular Morbidity in Pediatric Age Group at Dow University Hospital

Doi: 10.36351/pjo.v37i4.1202

Abstract

Purpose:  To determine the frequency of different ocular conditions leading to ocular morbidity in a tertiary care hospital.

Study Design:  Descriptive cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study:  Study was done in Dow University of medical sciences, from May 2018 to October 2018.

Methods:  A total of 278 patients presenting in the eye out-patient department were included. Patients with unaided visual acuity of 6/6 in both eye and no ocular abnormality were excluded from the study. Children with congenital syndromes like Down’s syndrome, etc. leading to eye diseases were also excluded. All children underwent complete ocular examination. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 22. Frequency and percentages were computed for gender and different ocular diseases e.g., myopia, hypermetropia, strabismus, Vernal Kerato-conjunctivitis, astigmatism, red eye, subconjunctival hemorrhage etc. Post-stratification chi-square test was applied with p-value ? 0.05.

Results:  Out of 278 participants of the study, there were 154 (55.4%) males and 124 (44.6%) females. Average age of the patients was 11.15 ± 3.44 years. Myopia and red eyes were the major causes of pediatric ocular morbidity i.e. 33.81% and 26.6% respectively. Comparison between two age groups showed that Myopia was higher in children with 11 to 15 years. Myopia and astigmatism were more common in females while sub-conjunctival hemorrhage was more in males.

Conclusion:  Refractive errors are the commonest cause of childhood visual impairment in our setup. Correcting these preventable diseases can have a positive impact on the performance of children at school.

Key Words:  Visual acuity, Pediatric, Myopia, Hypermetropia, Kerato-conjunctivitis.