A Study to Assess the Visual Status and Ocular Morbidities followed by Treatment at a Trust Hospital of People Aged 40 Years and above Residing in a Locality of Bhopal City: A Camp-Based Approach

Shoaib Arshad, Amreen Khan

Abstract


Introduction: Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful – Helen Killer. Even though of great importance, ophthalmic problems are very prevalent and widely ignored amongst people of all strata.

Objective: To assess the visual status of people aged 40 years and above; to identify and treat ophthalmic morbidities; refer patients to trust hospital; and evaluate their treatment seeking behavior.

Methodology: This study was conducted as a camp-based approach in an NGO office for patients residing in that locality of Bhopal. Doctors were invited from a trust hospital for conducting the ophthalmological examination. Participants underwent an eye examination comprising visual acuity, color vision test using
Ishihara plates, and external and internal ocular eye health examinations. A structured questionnaire was also administered to the participants to collect sociodemographic data. The patients were prescribed medications and those requiring further investigations or surgeries were referred and sent to the trust
hospital by the arranged transport.

Results: The camp was attended by 194 people residing in the colony. The prevalence of any form of ophthalmic problem was seen in 91 people (46.9%). 53 patients amongst these were referred to a trust hospital and sent, of which 12 people did not seek treatment, 26 were operated for cataract, 1 for pterygium and 2 for chalazion. Twelve patients were prescribed treatment for various other conditions. Poor healthseeking behavior was seen as none of the patients identified had sought any care before. Also, they were unaware of their visual status. The main barrier to seek care was unavailability of ophthalmology units in the accessible hospitals.

Conclusion: creating awareness about the importance of ocular health is needed. Facilities of ophthalmologicaltreatment should be made available even in smaller units of healthcare


Keywords


Ocular morbidities, Camp based approach

Full Text:

PDF

References


Resnikoff S, Pascolini D, Etya’ale D et al. Global data on

visual impairment in the year 2002. Bull World Health

Organ. 2004; 82: 844-51.

Mathers C, Fat DM, Boerma JT. World Health

Organization. The global burden of disease: Update.

Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization 2008;

Sharma M, Singh A. Pattern of treatment compliance

among eye patients in a North Indian Town. Ann Ital

Chir. 2008; 79: 341-46.

Dalvi SD, Sathe PV. Survey of ocular morbidity with

special reference to senile cataract in rural population.

Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med. 1985; 16(4): 103-10.

Sehgal K, Kant L, Jain BK et al. Prevalence of eye

diseases in a semi urban area. Ind J Pub Health 1984;

(4): 189-93.

WHO. Visual impairment and blindness [Internet].

WHO. [Cited 2015 May 15].

Statye M, Reeves B, Wortham C. Ocular and vision

defects in preschool children. Br J Ophthalmol. 1993;

: 228-32.

World Health Organization, regional office for south

East Asian Region. Health Situation in South-East

Asian Region New Delhi: WHO. 2002. Report No.:

SEA/HS/222.

Murthy GVS, Gupta SK, Bachani D et al. Current

estimates of blindness in India. Br J Ophthalmol 2005;

: 257-60.

Srivastava K. Report of working group on communicable

and non-communicable diseases for the Eleventh 5

year plan. New Delhi: Government of India 2006.

Kumar R, Dabas P, Mehra M et al. Ocular morbidity

amongst primary school children in Delhi. Health and

Population – Perspectives and Issues 2007; 30(3):

-29.

Prajapati P, Oza J, Prajapati J et al. Prevalence of ocular

morbidity among school adolescents of Gandhinagar

District, Gujarat. Online J Health Allied Scs 2010; 9(4):

-5.

Dandona R, Dandona L. Childhood blindness in India: A

population based perspective. Br J Ophthalmol 2003;

(3): 263-65.

Somashekar P. Biradar, Arvind H. A study on industrial

eye injuries. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research

Oct; 5(5): 1076-81.

Gulati N, Gupta NK, Jain BK et al. Some epidemiologicalaspects of ocular morbidity in a resettlement colony

of Delhi. Indian Journal of Public Health 1987; 31(1):

-63.

www.censusindia.gov.in

Gattani RG. A study of ocular morbid conditions in an

urban slum community. Thesis for M.D. (P.S.M). Nagpur

University, Nagpur. 1995.

Sharma M, Singh A. Pattern of treatment compliance

among eye patients in a North Indian Town. Ann Ital

Chir 2008; 79: 341-46.

Agrawal D, Singh JV, Sharma MK et al. Ocular morbidity

pattern of an urban population of Meerut. Indian. J.

Prev. Soc. Med 2011; 42(1): 75-78.

Titiyal JS, Murthy GVS. Industrial ocular morbidity in

a North Indian Town. Indian Journal of Public Health

; 42(2): 29-33.

Rizyal A, Shakya S, Shrestha RK et al. A study of ocular

morbidity of patients attending a satellite clinic in

Bhaktapur, Nepal. Nepal Med Coll J. 2010; 12(2): 87-89.

Vashist P, Talwar B, Gogoi M et al. Prevalence of cataract

in older population in India: The India study of age

related eye disease. Ophthalmology 2011; 118 (2):

Murthy GV, Gupta SK, Bachani D et al. Current estimates

of blindness in India. Br J Ophthalmol 2005; 89: 257-60.

Chatterjee A, Milton RC, Thyle S. Prevalence and

aetiology of cataract in Punjab. Br J Ophthalmology

; 66: 35-42.

Awasthi P, Sarbhai KP, Banerjee SC et al. Prevalence

study of glaucoma in rural areas. Indian J Ophthalmol

; 23: 1–5.

Jain MR, Modi R. Survey of chronic simple glaucoma

in the rural population of India (Udaipur) above the

age group of 30 years. Indian J Ophthalmol 1983; 31:

-57.

Jacob A, Thomas R, Koshi SP et al. Prevalence of primary

glaucoma in an urban south Indian population. Indian

J Ophthalmol 1998; 46: 81-86.

Singh MM, Murthy GV, Venkatraman R et al. A study

of ocular morbidity among elderly population in a

rural area of central India. Indian J Ophthalmol 1997;

: 61-65.

Nirmalan PK, Krishnadas R, Ramakrishnan R et al. Lens

opacities in a rural population of southern India: The

Aravind Comprehensive Eye Study. Invest Ophthalmol

Vis Sci 2003; 44: 4639-43.

Dandona R, Dandona L, Naduvilath TJ et al. Refractive

errors in an urban population in southern India: The

Andhra Pradesh eye disease study. Invest Ophthalmol

Vis Sci 1999; 40: 2810-18.

Raju P, Ramesh SV, Arvind H et al. Prevalence of

refractive errors in a rural south Indian population.

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2004; 45: 4268-72.

Khadse A, Narlawar U, Humne A et al. Prevalence of

ocular morbidities in an urban slum of central India.

Health Sciences: An International Journal 2014; 4(1):

-12.

Singh MM, Murthy GV, Venkatraman R et al. Study

of ocular morbidity among elderly population in a

rural area of central India. Indian J Ophthalmol 1997;

(1): 61-65.

Kovai V, Krishnaiah S, Shamanna BR et al. Barriers to

accessing eye care services among visually impaired

populations in rural Andhra Pradesh, South India.

Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 2007 Sep; 55(5): 365.

Ajibode HA, Jagun OO, Bodunde OT et al. Assessment

of barriers to surgical ophthalmic care in South-Western

Nigeria. Journal of the West African College of Surgeons

Oct; 2(4): 68.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Integrated Community Health (Print ISSN 2319 - 9113)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.