scholarly journals Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness in Three Ecological Regions of Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-12
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Paudel ◽  
Shankar Khanal ◽  
...  

Introduction: Visual impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI) and blindness in people aged 15 years and above across three ecological regions of Nepal. Materials and methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in one district in each of the three ecological regions of Nepal. Number of participants from each region was distributed as per the prevalence findings of pilot study, with 2815 participants enrolled in Dolakha, 1509 in Dhading and 910 in Sarlahi. Intensive training was provided to health workers on how to conduct door-to-door enumeration, visual acuity testing and referral when indicated for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using standard software. For categorical data, frequency, percentage and 95% CI were calculated and statistical tests were done using Chi-square/Fisher exact test. Results: Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study (participation rate 96.4%). The overall prevalence of MSVI was 9.5% (495). It was 4.7% (133) in the mountainous region, 11.2% (169) in the Hill and 21.2% (193) in the Tarai. In those aged 15-49 years, MSVI prevalence was 1.5% (52) and 25.1% (433) in ≥50 years. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9% (47). It was 0.2% (6) in 15-49 and 2.3% (41) in ≥50 age groups. More than 95% visual impairment and blindness were due to cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness (290, 53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error. Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The management of uncorrected refractive error and operable cataract would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Zhi Yu Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Poudel ◽  
Shankar Prasad Khanal ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Visual impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI) and blindness in people aged 15 years and above across three ecological regions of Nepal. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in one district in each of the three ecological regions of Nepal. Intensive training was provided to health workers on how to conduct door-to-door enumeration, visual acuity testing and referral when indicated for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) v19.0 and Stata v10.0 software. Results: Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study (participation rate 96.4%). The overall prevalence of MSVI was 9.5% (95% CI = 8.7 - 10.3) which was 4.7% in the Mountain district, 11.2% in the Hill district and 21.2% in the Tarai district. In those aged 15-49 years MSVI prevalence was 1.5% and in those aged ≥50 it was 25.1%. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9% (95% CI=0.6-1.2), and the prevalence of blindness in the 15-49 and ≥50 age groups was 0.2% and 2.3% respectively. Most cases of visual impairment and blindness (95.5%) were due to cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Overall, cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness (53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error (39.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The correction of refractive error and cataract surgery would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness. Key words: Epidemiology, Public health, visual, Optic and refraction


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Zhi Yu Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Poudel ◽  
Shankar Prasad Khanal ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Visual impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. The study aims to explore is the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness across three ecological regions of Nepal. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts covering all ecological regions of Nepal. Intensive training for health workers was provided to conduct door-to-door visits for visual acuity testing using Snellen chart and refer the abnormal cases for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Stata software. Results: Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study. The overall prevalence of moderate to severe visual impairment was 9.5% (4.7% in the Mountain district, 11.2% in the Hill district and 21.2% in the Tarai district), though the prevalence of MSVI was 1.5% in participants aged 15-49 years and 25.1% in those aged ≥50. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9%, and the prevalence of blindness in the 15-49 and ≥50 age groups was 0.2% and 2.3% respectively. Most cases of visual impairment and blindness (95.5%) were an avoidable cause, of which 93.7% were treatable and 1.8% were preventable. Overall, cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness (53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error (39.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The correction of refractive error and cataract surgery would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness. Key words: Epidemiology, Public health, visual, Optic and refraction


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Zhi Yu Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Poudel ◽  
Shankar Prasad Khanal ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Visual impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. The study aims to explore is the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness across three ecological regions of Nepal. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts covering all ecological regions of Nepal. Intensive training for health workers was provided to conduct door-to-door visits for visual acuity testing using Snellen chart and refer the abnormal cases for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Stata software. Results: Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study. The overall prevalence of moderate to severe visual impairment was 9.5% (4.7% in the Mountain district, 11.2% in the Hill district and 21.2% in the Tarai district), though the prevalence of MSVI was 1.5% in participants aged 15-49 years and 25.1% in those aged ≥50. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9%, and the prevalence of blindness in the 15-49 and ≥50 age groups was 0.2% and 2.3% respectively. Most cases of visual impairment and blindness (95.5%) were an avoidable cause, of which 93.7% were treatable and 1.8% were preventable. Overall, cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness (53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error (39.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The correction of refractive error and cataract surgery would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Zhi Yu Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Poudel ◽  
Shankar Prasad Khanal ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Visual impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. The study aims to explore is the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness across three ecological regions of Nepal. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts covering all ecological regions of Nepal. Intensive training for health workers was provided to conduct door-to-door visits for visual acuity testing using Snellen chart and refer the abnormal cases for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Stata software. Results: Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study. The overall prevalence of moderate to severe visual impairment was 9.5% (4.7% in the Mountain district, 11.2% in the Hill district and 21.2% in the Tarai district), though the prevalence of MSVI was 1.5% in participants aged 15-49 years and 25.1% in those aged ≥50. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9%, and the prevalence of blindness in the 15-49 and ≥50 age groups was 0.2% and 2.3% respectively. Most cases of visual impairment and blindness (95.5%) were an avoidable cause, of which 93.7% were treatable and 1.8% were preventable. Overall, cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness (53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error (39.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The correction of refractive error and cataract surgery would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe visual impairment and blindness.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Sunjuri Zhi Yu Sun ◽  
Ben Limbu ◽  
Manish Poudel ◽  
Shankar Prasad Khanal ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Vision impairment and blindness are significant public health issues worldwide. The study aims to explore is the prevalence and causes of moderate to severe vision impairment and blindness across three ecological regions of Nepal. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts covering all ecological regions of Nepal. Intensive training for health workers was provided to conduct door-to-door visits for vision acuity testing using Snellen chart and refer the abnormal cases for comprehensive ocular examination by technicians and ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat ocular morbidities. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Stata software. Results Altogether 5234 participants were enrolled in the study. The overall prevalence of moderate to severe vision impairment was 9.5% (4.7% in the Mountain district, 11.2% in the Hill district and 21.2% in the Tarai district), though the prevalence of MSVI was 1.5% in participants aged 15-49 years and 25.1% in those aged ≥50. The overall prevalence of blindness was 0.9%, and the prevalence of blindness in the 15-49 and ≥50 age groups was 0.2% and 2.3% respectively. Most cases of vision impairment and blindness (95.5%) were an avoidable cause, of which 93.7% were treatable and 1.8% were preventable. Overall, cataract was the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness (53.5%), followed by uncorrected refractive error (39.5%). Conclusion The prevalence of vision impairment and blindness varied significantly with age, ethnicity and locality. The correction of refractive error and cataract surgery would reduce nine in ten cases of moderate to severe vision impairment and blindness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reny Setyowati ◽  
Indra Tri Mahayana ◽  
Tri Winarti ◽  
Suhardjo Pawiroranu

Refractive disorders begin to affect many children and become a burden of disease in the community due to lack of awareness by parents and screening by health workers. This research was a cross-sectional study and carried out at screening of visual acuity in primary school-aged children. A total of 38 children aged 6 - 12 were the subjects in this study. This research was conducted in Banjararum sub-district, Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta Special Province in September 2018. The average age of subjects was 8.8 ± 1.4 years. Result showed refraction status before correction (uncorrected refractive error/URE) with mean visual acuity of 0.3 logMAR (equivalent to 6/12 Snellen). The most common refractive disorders were myopia simplex (63.2%) and 38.8% of subjects experienced moderate visual impairment. After being corrected, as much as 97.4% of subjects reached normal vision. Burden of undiagnosed refractive disorders in rural population was high even though the visual disturbance is reversible.


Author(s):  
Waleed M Alghamdi ◽  
Saif H Alrasheed

Objectives: This study aimed to assess parents’ awareness of and perspectives on childhood refractive error in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study included parents from different regions of Saudi Arabia was conducted between October and November 2020 and included 358 parents. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that involved questions to assess parents’ knowledge and perceptions of childhood refractive error and spectacle wear. Results: A total of 358 completed questionnaires were obtained in this study with a response rate of 85%. Almost 38.3% of parents reported that they had never heard of refractive error. One-third (33.7%) mentioned that uncorrected refractive error did not lead to visual impairment. The majority (74.0%) cited using eyeglasses as an effective way to manage childhood refractive error. Two-thirds (63.7%) stated that they did not receive any information about paediatric eye care. Better knowledge was associated with having a higher educational level, being female, and having an older age (p˂0.001, p=0.008, and p=0.024 respectively). Regarding parents' perspective on spectacle wear, almost 13.7% felt that using eyeglasses affected their children's chances of learning. However, 82.7% supposed that eyeglasses did not affect their children's employment opportunities. Approximately 22.1% thought that using eyeglasses would decrease the eyes power resulting in childhood visual impairment. Conclusion: The level of awareness and perceptions of childhood refractive error and spectacle wear was low among parents. Therefore, a policy is needed to improve the awareness and perception of key stakeholders such as parents and teachers.  In turn such an improvement could play a crucial role in addressing the poor knowledge and bad perception of treatment for childhood refractive error. Keywords: Childhood visual impairment; spectacle wear; parental attitudes; refractive error; paediatric eye care; psychological effect; vision care; Spectacle compliance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (G) ◽  
pp. 256-259
Author(s):  
Wesiana Heris Santy ◽  
I Dewa Gede Ugrasena ◽  
Yuni Sufyanti Arief ◽  
Fauziyatun Nisa ◽  
Siti Nur Hasina

BACKGROUND: Lack of knowledge and inappropriate attitude toward pain management have been recognized as major obstacles to the application of pain management by health workers. Most of the nurses carry out pain management when performing invasive actions on children is not good. AIM: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the level of knowledge and the behavior of nurses in pain management in children during invasive procedures. METHODS: This study used an analytic observational design with a cross-sectional engineering design with a total population of 30 nurses and a total sample of 30 nurses at RSI A. Yani Surabaya and used a total sampling technique. The independent variable in this study is the level of knowledge, while the dependent variable is the behavior of nurses when performing invasive actions on children. Data were analyzed using the Fisher Exact Test for significance α = 0.05. The data collection instrument used a questionnaire and observation sheet. RESULTS: The results showed that 23 respondents who have sufficient knowledge with 18 respondents having positive behavior and 5 respondents being negative. While 4 respondents who have good knowledge with positive behavior 3 respondents and 1 respondent behaves negatively. respondents who have less knowledge, there are 3 respondents with negative behavior. p = 0.033 (p < 0.05) then there is a knowledge relationship with the behavior of nurses on pain management in children during invasive procedures. CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge of nurses about pain management in children during invasive procedures obtained a enough level of knowledge. The nurse’s behavior level toward pain management in children during invasive procedures is positive. The results of the analysis using statistical tests showed that there was a relationship between the knowledge and behavior of nurses about pain management in children during invasive procedures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Nurhayati Nurhayati

<p><em>Every woman wants her labor to run smoothly and can give birth to a baby perfectly. Childbirth can run normally, but it is not uncommon for labor to experience obstacles and must be done through surgery. This means the fetus and mother are in an emergency and can only be saved if labor is performed by surgery. The purpose of this study is to find out the related to the health status of newborn babies at delivery in the City of Bukittinggi.</em></p><p><em>Type of analytic survey research with design cross-sectional</em><em>.</em><em>The object of the study was a newborn baby with Caesarean section and normal delivery at Bukittinggi City Hospital. The test used is thetest Chi-Square with a 95% confidence level.</em></p><p><em>The results showed that as many as 65 people (54.2%) had the incidence of asphyxia. 65 people (54.2%) had normal respiratory conditions, 62 people (51.7%) had meconium aspiration</em><em>.</em><em>63 people (52.5%) had trauma to an abnormal baby</em><em>.</em><em>64 people (53.3%) had infectious diseases. 70 people (58.3%) had IMD.</em><em>72 people (60%) have joined care. 60 people (50%) with type of labor SC. Statistical tests showed that there was a relationship between apgar score (p = 0.003), respiratory conditions (p = 0.010), meconium aspiration (p = 0.0005), trauma in infants (p = 0.0005), joint care (p = 0.002 ) and IMD (p = 0.0005) for the type of labor. While infectious diseases do not have a relationship to the type of labor (p = 0.583).</em></p><p><em>It was concluded that there was a relationship between apgar score, respiratory condition, meconium aspiration, admission and IMD with different types of delivery. Expected to health workers especially midwives can be used as input in order to improve health status in newborns.</em></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waleed Alghamdi ◽  
Godwin O. Ovenseri-Ogbomo

Background: Visual impairment is disproportionately distributed between rural and urban dwellers. Rural dwellers have limited access to the eye care services that are available in urban cities.Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in Dariyah, a rural community in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia.Setting: This research comprised a population-based assessment of the vision and visual status of the inhabitants of Dariyah community.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted amongst the inhabitants of the community of Dariyah. A comprehensive eye examination consisting of visual acuity, ocular health examination, objective and subjective refraction was performed. The examinations were conducted by registered ophthalmologists and optometrists from the Qassim University. Vision impairments were categorised according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Section 9D90, ‘Vision impairment including blindness’ (2018).Results: In all, 68 (24.5%) participants had vision impairment (using the better-seeing eye), with refractive errors being the main cause of vision impairment. Other causes of vision impairment included cataract (20, 7.2%), trichiasis (5, 1.8%) and glaucoma (2, 0.7%). Refractive errors were present in 193 (69.7%), with astigmatism being the commonest refractive error. About 60% of those with refractive errors presented without spectacles for correction, and 20% reported that they had never had an eye examination. Refractive errors could not be determined in 19 (6.9%) of the subjects because of conditions such as matured cataract and other ocular abnormalities.Conclusion: Uncorrected refractive error was found to be the leading cause of vision impairment in this rural community in Saudi Arabia.


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