Prevalence of ocular disorders among residents of Bunkure Local Government, Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The eye is an important organ of sight that needs utmost care and protection. Visual screening and regular eye checkup are very important because it helps in the early detection of eye diseases, thereby preventing avoidable blindness. Aim: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of ocular disorders among patients seeking care at the primary healthcare centre of Bunkure Local Government Area of Kano State. Materials/Method. Snellen’s illiterate/semi-literate (Far and near) visual acuity charts, pinhole acuity, pen touch examination and direct ophthalmoscopy were performed on all patients to determine the presence or otherwise of any ocular disorder. Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 23.0. Result: A total of 283 persons (566 eye), comprising 171 (60.4%) males and 112(36.9%) females, aged between 0-90 years, mean age, 35±18,80 were examined in this study. Allergic conjunctivitis is the commonest ocular disorder in 41(14.5%) participants, followed by Cataract, 28(9.9%), pterygium, 27(9.5%), presbyopia, 27(9.5%), refractive error, 17(6.0%), conjunctivitis, 17(6.0%) while 47(16.5%) participants presented with more than one disorder and 24(8.5%) has no abnormality detected in their eyes. Inferential statistics using chi-square shows that there is a statistically significant relationship between gender, educational status, occupation, age and ocular disorders (p<0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of ocular disorders was found to be high (91.6%), with males having more disorders.