Ocular morbidity pattern among patients attending Red Cross Eye Unit in Sunyani, Ghana

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Visual health information is particularly important in planning appropriate interventions to combat preventable causes of blindness and visual impairment. Nonetheless, there is limited information on ocular health conditions in Ghana. The study set out to determine the pattern of ocular morbidity at the Red Cross Eye Unit in the Bono Region of Ghana. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was carried out at the Red Cross Eye Unit in the Bono Region of Ghana and used a hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of patient's ocular health records throughout the year 2018 was performed. Patients were conveniently sampled, and socio-economic details and diagnosis were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM Corp. Released 2011. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: A total of 2400 patients records were reviewed, comprising of 1012 males (42.2%) and 1388 females (57.8%) with a male to female ratio of 1:1.4. Each patient sampled was diagnosed with an ocular condition and the modal age group was found to be 41–60 years. The most common cause of ocular morbidity among the patients was refractive error (32.4%). This was followed by acute conjunctivitis (29.7%) and cataract (12.3%). Refractive error and acute conjunctivitis were found to be significantly higher among females (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Refractive error, acute conjunctivitis, and cataract were common ocular morbidities found in this study. Interventions should target these ocular conditions to minimize the risk of preventable visual impairment and blindness in the Region.