Title: The Pattern of childhood eye diseases and the awareness of parents regarding this among those who visit the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Trivandrum
Authors: Karankara Malavika Menon, Neethu A. P, Dr Anish T.S, Mubeer P.K, Abhijith Mohan Rajamohan, Dr Anitha Balachandran
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v7i4.150
Abstract
Purpose: To study the pattern of childhood eye diseases in children aged less than 15 years and assess the awareness of parents about this and the need for early screening.
Design: Cross-sectional study design
Materials and Methodology: A cross sectional study was done at the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Thiruvananthapuram on a study population of 125 children aged less than 15 years, attending the outpatient department.
Exclusion criteria included mentally retarded and severely ill children.
A sample size of 125 was considered and all consecutive patients eligible to be enrolled were included with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire.
Study variables included socio-demographic variables and questions assessing the need of an early screening and regular follow up.
Results: The majority (72%) of sample population were below 10 years of age , least observed among under 1 age group(4.8%).
The mean age of diagnosis was 5.32 years, with a SD of 3.293. Refractive error with amblyopia had highest prevalence (29.6%).
66.7% had undergone no routine eye checkup.69.8% also opinioned the need for no routine eye checkup in the absence of symptoms.40.8% underwent their first eye checkup at 5-10 years while only 17.6% had a under 1 age checkup. Notable highlights include 78.4% and 67.2% parents opinioning no occurrence of cataract and glaucoma in childhood.15.2% also opinioned that childhood eye diseases can never lead to blindness.
Conclusion: The study highlights the need for a routine eye checkup and follow up for early onset detection and correction of childhood eye diseases to prevent a future challenge of amblyopia.
Keywords: Amblyopia, Refractive error, myopia, hypermetropia, Astigmatism, childhood blindness, strabismus, school screening.
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