Prevalence and Pattern of Ocular Diseases among Rural Dwellers in Affa, Enugu State

Abstract

Background: The prevalence and pattern of different ocular diseases among rural dwellers vary in different parts of the world. It is usually influenced by a numerous factor, including but not limited to utilization of eye care services, socio-economic status, and level of education.

Aim: To identify the most prevalent eye diseases and their pattern of occurrence, among rural dwellers in South East Nigeria, with a view to influence targeted health policies and subsequently, targeted interventions to improve eye health in the region.

Methods: The study was a cross sectional study involving patients willing to participate in the study during a one-day free eye outreach organized by the Ophthalmology department, ESUTH Parklane at Affa Community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu state. A preliminary visit was made one week prior to the health outreach, by some members of the outreach team to mobilize the community, seek their consent and fix a date through their leaders. On the day for the outreach, the objective of the eye screening was explained to the participants in both English and their local language. Subsequently, informed consent was obtained and each subject registered and the bio-data documented.

Registered participant had their unaided and aided Visual Acuity (VA) of each eye determined. Then, the anterior and posterior segment was examined. Data collected were recorded using a proforma and later inputted into a computer, cleaned and analysed using SPSS version 21. Results were presented in tables and represented in frequencies percentages. Association between variables were done using t-test and p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: One hundred and sixty-eight participants were screened during the outreach programme/study with mean age of 40+0.5years. There were more females 116 (69.1%) than males 52 (30.9%), giving a female to male ratio of 2:1 and they are predominantly Christians and farmers. The common ocular problems among the participants include cataract 53 (22.6%), refractive error 37 (15.8%), Pterygium 35 (14.9%). Cataract was the most common eye disease among the outreach participants and responsible for 22.6% of all ocular problems. Normal visual acuity was found more in participants < 50 years of age, mild visual impairment occurred more in participants 51-70 years while moderate visual impairment to blindness were seen more in patients >70 years.

Conclusion: In this study, the commonest ocular problems among the participants include Cataract, Refractive error, and Pterygium which are reversible causes of visual impairment and blindness. Therefore, health policies and advocacies should be directed towards reducing the burden of these reversible causes of visual impairment and blindness among the rural dwellers which constitute greater proportion of our population.