Burden of Ocular Motility Disorders at a Tertiary Care Institution: A Case to Enhance Secondary Level Eye Care

AIM: To evaluate the profile of strabismus and amblyopia in patients presenting to a tertiary care institution in order to understand the disease burden. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, prospective hospital-based observational study was conducted at a tertiary level eye care hospital in India. All patients with strabismus or amblyopia who presented over a 1-year period were identified and referred to the squint clinic, where they were evaluated with a detailed clinical history and examination. RESULTS: A total of 24475 patients were evaluated, of which 1950 had strabismus or amblyopia. The overall magnitude of amblyopia and strabismus was 2.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.8-2.2)] and 6.9% (95% CI, 6.6-7.2), respectively. About 20% of those seeking an ophthalmic consultation were children and they constituted over half of the population referred to the squint clinic. Among younger children, the burden of amblyopia and strabismus was 84.4% and 26.6%, respectively. Among the referred patients, strabismus was noted in 84.6% (N = 1649), most of the cases of which was of the comitant subtype (78.1%, N = 1288) with an equal distribution of exotropia and esotropia. Paralytic [12.9% (N = 251)] and restrictive [4.7% (N = 85)] squint constituted the remaining burden of strabismus. CONCLUSION: Strabismus and amblyopia affect a sizeable proportion of patients presenting to a tertiary care ophthalmology setup. A significantly higher burden is present in the pediatric population. The majority of the cases of strabismus are of a comitant variety, which do not merit tertiary level eye care. There is a need to improve pediatric eye care at a secondary level to reduce the immense burden on tertiary referral centers.