Refractive ocular conditions and reasons for spectacles renewal in a resource-limited economy

BACKGROUND: Although a leading cause of visual impairment and a treatable cause of blindness globally, the pattern of refractive errors in many populations is unknown. This study determined the pattern of refractive ocular conditions, reasons for spectacles renewal and the effect of correction on refractive errors in a resource-limited community. METHODS: A retrospective review of case records of 1,413 consecutive patients seen in a private optometry practice, Nigeria between January 2006 and July 2007. RESULTS: A total number of 1,216 (86.1%) patients comprising of (486, 40%) males and (730, 60%) females with a mean age of 41.02 years SD 14.19 were analyzed. The age distribution peaked at peri-adolescent and the middle age years. The main ocular complaints were spectacles loss and discomfort (412, 33.9%), blurred near vision (399, 32.8%) and asthenopia (255, 20.9%). The mean duration of ocular symptoms before consultation was 2.05 years SD 1.92. The most common refractive errors include presbyopia (431, 35.3%), hyperopic astigmatism (240, 19.7%) and presbyopia with hyperopia (276, 22.7%). Only (59, 4.9%) had myopia. Following correction, there were reductions in magnitudes of the blind (VA<3/60) and visually impaired (VA<6/18-3/60) patients by (18, 58.1%) and (89, 81.7%) respectively. The main reasons for renewal of spectacles were broken lenses/frame/scratched lenses/lenses' falling off (47, 63.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Adequate correction of refractive errors reduces visual impairment and avoidable blindness and to achieve optimal control of refractive errors in the community, services should be targeted at individuals in the peri-adolescent and the middle age years.