Abstract
Objective: To describe the prevalence corneal blindness and to correlate with demographic profile.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients who came in OPD of the Department during the study period were included in the study. Their demographic profile was recorded. Corneal blindness was defined as presenting a VA of less than 3/60 due to corneal disease in the affected eye. The diagnosis was made by the experts available in the OPD. A total of 756 patients of either age and gender with 791 eyes were included in the study. The analysis was based on patients not on number of eyes.
Results: The prevalence of corneal blindness in at least one was found to be in 11 patients (1.5%, 95%CI=1.0-3%) in 15 eyes. The prevalence of corneal blindness was lower among males (1.3%) than females (1.7%). The highest prevalence of corneal blindness was noted among the patients of age >50 years (3.4%) and lowest was among the age group <10 years (06%). The prevalence of corneal blindness was higher among the patients of having primary education. The prevalence of corneal blindness was higher among patients belonging to urban area (2%) than rural (1%). The prevalence of corneal blindness was highest among farmers. There was no significant (p>0.05) association of the prevalence of corneal blindness with demographic factors
Conclusion: There is a significant burden of corneal blindness in the studied population.Preventive measures for corneal blindness are required for further strengthened.