IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 6554: The Burden of Pediatric Visual Impairment and Ocular Diagnoses in Barbados

This study leverages Barbados’ unique eye care system to survey the eye diseases and VI prevalence in Barbadian children. Medical records of all patients aged <19 years who received ophthalmic care in Barbados’ two public eye care centers between January and December 2019 were reviewed, capturing the entirety of public pediatric eye care within the study period. Age at the first visit to the clinic and at the final visit in 2019, sex, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), past medical history, and clinical diagnoses were extracted and analyzed. VI was defined as a BCVA of 6/12 or worse in the better-seeing eye. There were 3278 patient records with a mean age at the first visit of 7.8 ± 3.9 years. There were 80 (2.4%) children with VI, 62.5% of which were attributed to amblyopia. A total of 94% of VI was preventable or treatable. The most common diagnoses were refractive error (87.5%), strabismus (27.5%), and allergic eye disease (20.0%). Amblyopia is the major cause of pediatric VI in Barbados and is largely avoidable.

Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - August 10, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Kirsten Da Silva Michelle Dowell Eleonore J. Savatovsky Dawn Grosvenor David Callender Michael H. Campbell Ian Hambleton Elizabeth A. Vanner Alana L. Grajewski Ta Chen Chang Tags: Article Source Type: research