What Are Common Causes of Blindness in Children?

Discussion According to the World Health Organization, about 1.3 billion people have some form of visual impairment. Most people with visual impairments are >50 years old, more are female than male, and more live in resource-limited areas than resource-rich areas. Most visual impairments are avoidable (80%) in all age groups with the leading causes globally and across ages being uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts. The most common causes of blindness are: Refractive errors, uncorrected Cataract Age-related macular degeneration Glaucoma Diabetic retinopathy Corneal opacity Trachoma The exact numbers vary by region and country. In general there has been an improvement in the percentage of those with visual impairments but because the global population has increased, especially the older population, the actual numbers of patients have remained steady or possibly increased over the past few years. Visual impairment for distance vision is considered mild if worse than 6/12 in meters = 20/40 in feet or 0.3 LogMAR and for moderate impairment is 6/18 meters = ~20/60 = ~0.6 LogMAR. LogMAR stands for the Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution and is considered more accurate than other charts. Near vision is considered impaired if acuity is worse than N6 or N8 at 40 cm with existing correction. N numbers are the size of the letters on the handheld card. Normal visual acuity development occurs over the first year of life with the average neonate being > 6/60 = 20/...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news