scholarly journals The Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment among Children in Kenya – The Kenya Eye Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadrack Muma ◽  
Stephen Obonyo

Abstract Background: Visual impairment is the partial or complete loss of vision in which the presenting visual acuity lie between 6/18-no perceptions of light. In Kenya, little attention has been directed towards children vision and causes of visual impairment. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the children population of Kenya.Methods: This cross-sectional population-based study included 3400 (1800, 52.9% female) randomly selected children with a mean age of 12 ± 2 years (range 5–16 years). Visual acuity was taken using Snellens chart at 6 meters. Anterior and posterior segment was assessed using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The World Health Organization definition formed the baseline for calculating the mean prevalence of visual impairment.Results: Visual acuity measurements were available for 3240 (95.3%) participants. The mean prevalence of visual impairment based on pin-hole value was 1.7 ± 0.3% using World Health Organization definition. The prevalence of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity value was 2.4 ± 0.7% using the World Health Organization definition. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of visual impairment on pin-hole increased significantly with increasing age (odds ratio 1.230, P=.021) and uncorrected refractive error (odds ratio 0.834, P = .032) according to World Health Organization definition. Cases of uncorrected refractive error remained the major cause for presenting visual impairment. Causes of visual impairment due to presenting visual acuity were nystagmus (14%), amblyopia (24%) and uncorrected refractive error (62%).Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment in Kenya is associated with age. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major causes of visual impairment.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadrack Muma ◽  
Stephen Obonyo

Abstract Background: Visual impairment is the partial or complete loss of vision and it is attributed to uncorrected refractive error. In Kenya, little attention has been directed towards children vision and causes of visual impairment. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the children population of Kenya.Methods: This cross-sectional population-based study included 3400 (1800, 52.9% female) randomly selected children with a mean age of 12 ± 2 years (range 5–16 years). Visual acuity was taken using Snellens chart at 6 meters. Anterior and posterior segment was assessed using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The World Health Organization definition formed the baseline for calculating the mean prevalence of visual impairment.Results: Visual acuity measurements were available for 3240 (95.3%) participants. The mean prevalence of visual impairment, based on pin-hole value, using World Health Organization definition, was 1.7 ± 0.3%. The prevalence of visual impairment, based on presenting visual acuity value, was 2.4 ± 0.7%, using the World Health Organization definition. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of visual impairment on pin-hole, according to World Health Organization definition increased significantly with increasing age (odds ratio 1.230, P=.021) and increased uncorrected refractive error (odds ratio 0.834, P = .032). Cases of uncorrected refractive error remained the main cause for presenting visual impairment. Causes of visual impairment due to presenting visual acuity were nystagmus (14%), amblyopia (24%) and uncorrected refractive error (62%).Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment in Kenya is associated with age. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major causes of visual impairment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadrack Muma ◽  
Stephen Obonyo

Abstract Background Visual impairment is the partial or complete loss of vision in which the presenting visual acuity lie between 6/18-no perceptions of light. In Kenya, little attention has been directed towards children vision and causes of visual impairment. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the children population of Kenya. Methods This cross-sectional population-based study included 3400 (1800, 52.9% female) randomly selected children with a mean age of 12 ± 2 years (range 5–16 years). Visual acuity was taken using Snellens chart at 6 m. Anterior and posterior segment was assessed using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The World Health Organization definition formed the baseline for calculating the mean prevalence of visual impairment. Results Visual acuity measurements were available for 3240 (95.3%) participants. The mean prevalence of visual impairment based on pin-hole value was 1.7 ± 0.3% using World Health Organization definition. The prevalence of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity value was 2.4 ± 0.7% using the World Health Organization definition. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of visual impairment on pin-hole increased significantly with increasing age (odds ratio 1.230, P = .021) and uncorrected refractive error (odds ratio 0.834, P = .032) according to World Health Organization definition. Cases of uncorrected refractive error remained the major cause for presenting visual impairment. Causes of visual impairment due to presenting visual acuity were nystagmus (14%), amblyopia (24%) and uncorrected refractive error (62%). Conclusion The prevalence of visual impairment in Kenya is associated with age. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major causes of visual impairment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadrack Muma ◽  
Stephen Obonyo

Abstract BackgroundVisual impairment impacts negatively on quality of life. Kenya has a total fertility rate of 3.5 an indication of more younger generation. However, little is known on the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the children population of Kenya.MethodsThis cross-sectional population-based study included 3400 (1800, 52.9% female) randomly selected children with a mean age of 12 ± 2 years (range 5–16 years) in Kenya. Visual acuity was taken using snellens chart at 6 meters. Anterior and posterior segments were assessed using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The World Health Organization formed the baseline for calculating prevalence of visual impairment.ResultsVisual acuity measurements were available for 3240 (95.3%) participants. The prevalence of visual impairment, based on pin-hole value, using World Health Organization, was 1.7 ± 0.3%. The prevalence of visual impairment, based on presenting visual acuity value, was 2.4 ± 0.7%, using the World Health Organization definition. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of visual impairment on pin-hole, according to World Health Organization definition increased significantly with increasing age (odds ratio 1.230, P = .021) and increased astigmatism (odds ratio 0.834, P = .032), but not significantly associated with socioeconomic, ocular conditions after adjusting for age and astigmatism. Lack of refractive error correction was the most common reason for presenting visual impairment. Causes of visual impairment due to presenting visual acuity were amblyopia (24%), nystagmus (14%), myopia (49%) and hyperopia (13%).ConclusionThe prevalence of visual impairment in Kenya increased significantly with socio-economic activities. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major causes of visual impairment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 927-936
Author(s):  
Giovanni Barbanti-Brodano ◽  
Cristiana Griffoni ◽  
Jarkko Halme ◽  
Giuseppe Tedesco ◽  
Silvia Terzi ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose To investigate whether the World Health Organization Safety Surgical Checklist (SSC) is an effective tool to reduce complications in spinal surgery. Methods We retrospectively evaluated the clinical and radiological charts prospectively collected from patients who underwent a spinal surgery procedure from January 2010 to December 2012. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of complications between two periods, from January to December 2010 (without checklist) and from January 2011 and December 2012 (with checklist), in order to assess the checklist’s effectiveness. Results The sample size was 917 patients with an average of 30-month follow-up. The mean age was 52.88 years. The majority of procedures were performed for oncological diseases (54.4%) and degenerative diseases (39.8%). In total, 159 complications were detected (17.3%). The overall incidence of complications for trauma, infectious pathology, oncology, and degenerative disease was 22.2%, 19.2%, 18.4%, and 15.3%, respectively. No correlation was observed between the type of pathology and the complication incidence. We observed a reduction in the overall incidence of complications following the introduction of the SSC: In 2010 without checklist, the incidence of complications was 24.2%, while in 2011 and 2012, following the checklist introduction, the incidence of complications was 16.7% and 11.7%, respectively (mean 14.2%). Conclusions The SSC seems to be an effective tool to reduce complications in spinal surgery. We propose to extend the use of checklist system also to the preoperative and postoperative phases in order to further reduce the incidence of complications. Graphic abstract These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.


Author(s):  
S. A. Borzenok ◽  
B. E. Malyugin ◽  
M. Yu. Gerasimov ◽  
D. S. Ostrovsky

According to the World Health Organization, corneal blindness is the fourth most common cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. In Russia, up to 18% of blindness is caused by corneal damage. Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is one of the causes of corneal blindness and visual impairment due to anterior epithelial replacement with fibrovascular pannus. Bilateral LSCD may develop in patients with aniridia, Steven-Jones syndrome, and severe corneal burns of both eyes, leading to severe decrease in visual acuity in both eyes and, as a consequence, physical disability associated with blindness. In such cases, cell therapy, based on autologous oral epithelial culture as an alternative to allogeneic limbus transplants, is proposed for reconstruction of the anterior corneal epithelium. This new treatment method promotes corneal reepithelization, better visual acuity, reduced nonspecific ocular complaints and improved quality of life of patients. The effectiveness and significant increase in the frequency of transparent engraftment of donor corneas after cell therapy drives huge interest in this topic all over the world. This review presents literature data on the features of histotopography and methods for obtaining a cultured autologous oral mucosal epithelium, on cell markers that are used to identify epithelial cells, and on methods for creating cell grafts for subsequent transplantation to the corneal surface in LSCD patients.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (37) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Kopel ◽  
Z Amitai ◽  
M Savion ◽  
Y Aboudy ◽  
E Mendelson ◽  
...  

A measles outbreak is affecting the Tel Aviv district, Israel, since April 2012. As of 10 September, 99 cases were confirmed, including 63 (64%) migrants of Eritrean and Sudanese origin. All genotyped cases had the African B3 genotype*. The mean age of migrant and non-migrant cases was 6.0±9.6 and 30.2±24.2 years, respectively (p<0.001). The majority of both migrant and non-migrant cases was unvaccinated. This is the second African measles B3 genotype outbreak within the World Health Organization European region in 2012.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aslı Patır Münevveroğlu ◽  
Beyza Ballı Akgöl ◽  
Tuğba Erol

This study assessed the feelings and attitudes of children toward their dentists and their association with oral health. Methods. A questionnaire designed to evaluate the attitudes of children toward dentists and preferences was completed by 200 children and their families. In addition, the children were examined and the World Health Organization (WHO) method was used to obtain dmft and DMFT scores. Results. The mean dmft and DMFT scores were 3.52±2.44 and 1.35±1.29, respectively. Of the children, 92.5% reported that they had visited a dentist before. Of the children who had visited dentists, approximately 71.5% reported that they enjoyed their visits. Of the children, 84% preferred female dentists, 76.5% preferred dentists that wore a colored coat, and 63% preferred a decorated dental clinic over a plain clinic. The mean dmft and DMFT values of children who were afraid of dentists were significantly higher than those of children who were not (P<0.01 and P<0.05, resp.). Conclusion. Children have strong perceptions and preferences regarding the appearance of their dentists and dental clinics. The results of this study might help dentists to improve their delivery of care.


Author(s):  
Ana Rita Teixeira ◽  
Anabela Gomes ◽  
Joao Gilberto Orvalho

As reported by the World Health Organization, an estimated 253 million live with visual impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. It's necessary to bring awareness and understanding of the challenges blind people face and help to motivate research into new technology to answer those questions. This chapter starts to identify the challenges people with visual disabilities face in their life. The problem of navigation and orientation as well as the different possibilities to deal with the locomotion situation is also addressed. It describes the traditional navigational solutions as well as other which involves more sophisticated technological devices and their multimodal interfaces. The chapter ends with the description of the BlueEyes project, consisting in a solution using beacons to help blind people moving in a city. The phases of the project are described, and the actual research situations is also slightly explained.


1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. HASHEMY-TONKABONY ◽  
F. ASSADI-LANGAROODI

A survey conducted during 1976–1977 on chlorinated pesticide residues in 105 samples of butter from the Tehran region revealed the presence of lindane, DDT with its metabolites DDE and DDD, and dieldrin in 100-93-100-100 and 73 samples, respectively. The means and ranges in ppm were .11 (.041 to .24), .037 (.011 to .82), .053 (.019 to .45), .034 (.001 to .11) and .015 (.001 to .09) for lindane, DDT, DDE, DDD and dieldrin, respectively. The mean concentration of chlorinated pesticide residues were lower than tolerances established by the World Health Organization for dairy products which are in ppm 1.25 for DDE, DDD and DDT singly or in combination, 0.15 for dieldrin and 0.2 for lindane. The reason for the low values might be zero grazing, use of partly dehydrated feeds and recent curtailment in use of these pesticides.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Jay J Meyer ◽  
Neil L Murray

Introduction: This study was conducted to determine whether the World Health Organization (WHO) visual acuity standards are correlated between the early and late early post-operative periods following phacoemulsification (phaco) and small incision extracapsular cataract surgery (SICS). Secondary aims were to compare visual outcomes and complications following SICS and phaco. Methods: Retrospective cohort study following phaco and SICS performed by one surgeon. Primary outcome measures included uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at the early (≤72 hours) and late (≥21 days) post-operative visits. Secondary outcome measures included complications and astigmatism. Results: 705 eyes were studied (509 phaco, 196 SICS). The correlation for UCVA between early and late follow-up examinations was higher for phaco (rs=0.58) compared to SICS (rs=0.45, p=0.04) while correlation for BCVA was similar (phaco,rs=0.52; SICS, rs=0.47; p=0.44). At the early post-operative visit, a higher proportion in the phaco group achieved ≥6/18 UCVA (81.5% phaco vs 64.8% SICS, p<0.0001) and BCVA (87.8% phaco vs 73.5% SICS, p<0.0001). At the late post-operative visit, a higher proportion following phaco also achieved ≥6/18 UCVA (93.9% phaco vs 85.2% SICS, p=0.0004) and BCVA (96.9% phaco vs 91.3% SICS, p=0.004). After exclusion of eyes with pre-existing ocular comorbidities, a similar proportion had ≥6/18 late UCVA (98.9% phaco vs 96.9% SICS, p=0.22) and BCVA (100% phaco vs 99.2% SICS, p=0.27). Conclusions: Early and late post-operative WHO visual acuity levels are correlated, but not equivalent, following both phaco and SICS. In eyes without comorbidities, similar final visual outcomes can be achieved after phaco and SICS.


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