Visual impairment attributable to uncorrected refractive error and other causes in the Ghanaian youth: The University of Cape Coast Survey

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of visual impairment attributable to refractive error and other causes in a youthful Ghanaian population. METHODS: A prospective survey of all consecutive visits by first-year tertiary students to the Optometry clinic between August, 2013 and April, 2014. Of the 4378 first-year students aged 16–39 years enumerated, 3437 (78.5%) underwent the eye examination. The examination protocol included presenting visual acuity (PVA), ocular motility, and slit-lamp examination of the external eye, anterior segment and media, and non-dilated fundus examination. Pinhole acuity and fundus examination were performed when the PVA ≤ 6/12 in one or both eyes to determine the principal cause of the vision loss. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 21.86 years (95% CI: 21.72–21.99). The prevalence of bilateral visual impairment (BVI; PVA in the better eye ≤6/12) and unilateral visual impairment UVI; PVA in the worse eye ≤6/12) were 3.08% (95% CI: 2.56–3.72) and 0.79% (95% CI: 0.54–1.14), respectively. Among 106 participants with BVI, refractive error (96.2%) and corneal opacity (3.8%) were the causes. Of the 27 participants with UVI, refractive error (44.4%), maculopathy (18.5%) and retinal disease (14.8%) were the major causes. There was unequal distribution of BVI in the different age groups, with those above 20 years having a lesser burden. CONCLUSION: Eye screening and provision of affordable spectacle correction to the youth could be timely to eliminate visual impairment.