Abstract :
Background: 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.
Materials and Methods: 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.
Results: 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.
Conclusion: 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.
Keyword :
Myopia, Ocular morbidity, Ocular trauma, Pediatric, Refractive errors.