Causes of blindness at Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi.
نویسندگان
چکیده
PURPOSE The majority of blindness in Sub-Saharan Africa is treatable. This hospital-based study was undertaken in order to investigate the etiology of blindness at Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi. METHODS One ophthalmologist examined 2082 consecutive new patients who presented to the outpatient department at Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi in 2006. Data recorded included age, sex, visual acuity and diagnosis. Patients were classified as blind if their best corrected visual acuity was <3/60 in one eye (unilateral) or two eyes (bilateral). RESULTS The most common diagnosis in new outpatients was cataract (52.8%), followed by glaucoma (8.1%), corneal pathology (7.2%), uveitis (4.5%) and maculopathy (3.2%). There were 742 (35.6%) patients with unilateral blindness and 331 (15.9%) patients with bilateral blindness. Unilateral blindness was present in 37.4% of males and 26.5% of females. The most common causes of unilateral blindness were lens pathology (57.8%), followed by glaucoma (12.1%), corneal pathology (10.0%) and uveitis (6.1%). Bilateral blindness was present in 12.5% of males and 16.8% of females respectively. The most common causes of bilateral blindness were lens pathology (54.4%), followed by glaucoma (19.9%), retinopathy (3.6%), maculopathy (3.6%), uveitis (3.6%) and corneal pathology (3.3%). CONCLUSIONS Cataract is the most common cause of blindness in Nkhoma. Resultantly, cataract management is preferentially targeted in the Nkhoma VISION2020 Programme. Training of auxiliary eye personnel in cataract diagnosis and surgery may assist in this approach.
منابع مشابه
Addressing cataract in rural Malawi: the Nkhoma Eye Programme
its population of 14.8 million. The eye unit based at Nkhoma Eye Hospital opened in 1955, and CBM has been supporting it since 1977. The hospital is the home of the Nkhoma Eye Programme (NEP), which was started as a VISION 2020 district programme in 2000. In cooperation with the Malawi Ministry of Health (MOH) and other, non-governmental, organisations, the programme provides eye care services ...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- European journal of ophthalmology
دوره 18 6 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008