Refractive errors in Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In the face of economic decline in Nigeria, budgetary subvention from government to health institutions has suffered adversely. Health institutions are forced to look inwards, minimize waste and generate resources to sustain clinical services. One such area of clinical service is the optical area. To sustain this important service area, the need to identify common refractive error and to commit meagre resources to the purchase of appropriate lens category became imperative.


Methods: Between February 2000 and February 2001, a prospective study on the pattern of refractive errors was carried out at the outpatient eye clinic of the Guinness Ophthalmic Unit, Kaduna. Every consecutive new patient with asthenopic symptoms or blurred vision for distant objects or for small prints was refracted.


Results: One thousand eight hundred and forty one patients with asthenopic symptoms were refracted. Forty nine percent were males and fifty one percent females. The age range was 6 – 60 years. Low-grade hypermetropia (0.25D – 1.25D) was the commonest spherical error (21.7%) observed, while astigmatism was observed in 14.3%. simple myopia constituted 8.0%. Presbyopic patients formed the largest group (56.0%).


Conclusion: Refractive error is a common cause of visual impairment among ophthalmic patients in Kaduna. Judicious management of the meagre resources on appropriate lens category, which in this study is presbyopic lens type, cannot be overemphasized.


Key Words: Hypermetropia, myopia, astigmatism


Nigerian Journal of Surgical Research Vol.5(1&2) 2003:106-109