Prevalence and causes of blindness in patients coming to a tertiary eye care centre in western Uttar Pradesh

Manu Priya; Neelima Mehrotra; Shipra Tripathi; Kunwar G. Singh; Ram M. Mishra; Aastha Agarwal

doi:10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20232433

Authors

Manu Priya Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9094-9311
Neelima Mehrotra Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
Shipra Tripathi Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
Kunwar G. Singh Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
Ram M. Mishra Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
Aastha Agarwal Department of Ophthalmology, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20232433

Keywords:

Blindness, Prevalence, Cataract, Corneal diseases

Abstract

Background: Objective of the research was to study the prevalence of blindness in adult patients coming to a tertiary eye care centre in Western Uttar Pradesh and assess their causes.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients coming to the outpatient department of a tertiary eye care centre over a period of 3 months and 375 patients were identified as having blindness. Complete ophthalmological examination was conducted to find out the cause for the same.

Results: The prevalence of blindness was found out to be 4.096%. The major causes for blindness in adults were identified as cataract (33.06%), glaucoma (13.6%), ARMD (5.6%), diabetic retinopathy (5.06%), corneal scar/opacity/dystrophy (26.93%), amblyopia (3.2%) and trauma (2.13%).

Conclusions: Knowledge of prevalence of blindness in a region is important in developing and implementing eye care services. Avoidable blindness needs to be identified and treated as soon as possible.

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