Pattern of Ocular Disorders among Attendees of a Mental Health Clinic, Lautech Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso

Abstract

Visual impairment appears to be yet another component of physical health that is overlooked and ignored in mentally ill individuals. This  study aimed to assess the pattern of ocular disorders among  attendees of a mental health clinic in LAUTECH Teaching Hospital. This was  a hospital-based  descriptive cross-sectional study that took place between September and November 2019. One  hundred and fifty-seven  consecutive respondents were selected using a simple random sampling  technique. A pre-tested semi-structured interviewer- administered questionnaire was used. The data  was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.2, the age range  was 18-69  years, and a mean age of 40.7 ± 14.3 years. Antipsychotic 32(20.4%) was the most frequently  prescribed psychotropic class.  Most of the respondents, 138 (87.9%), had a previous history of  previous eye complaints in the past five years. There was a statistically  significant association (p = <  0.001) between visual impairment among respondents and previous history of poor distance vision.  The  prevalence of visual impairment was 24(15.3%), while blindness was 1(0.6%). Normal vision  was recorded in 132(84.1%), moderate visual  impairment in 24(15.3%), and 1(0.6%) was blind. The  prevalence of ocular disorders was 99(63.1%) with multiple responses, while  58(36.9%) had normal  ocular findings. The common ocular disorders were refractive errors/presbyopia 68 (43.3%),  pterygium 34 (21.7%),  allergic conjunctivitis 32 (20.1%), cataract 31 (19.7%) and glaucoma 8(5.1%).  Respondents with normal ocular findings had the  lowest mean duration of exposure to the  psychotropic treatment (1.0 years). The majority of respondents had good vision. The  predominant  eye disorders were refractive errors/presbyopia, pterygium, and cataracts.