Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2003 Jan;87(1):20-3.
doi: 10.1136/bjo.87.1.20.

Causes of childhood blindness: results from schools for the blind in south eastern Nigeria

I R Ezegwui  1 , R E Umeh, U F Ezepue
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Causes of childhood blindness: results from schools for the blind in south eastern Nigeria

I R Ezegwui et al. Br J Ophthalmol. 2003 Jan.

Abstract

Aim: This cross sectional study was undertaken to identify the major causes of childhood severe visual impairment/blindness (SVI/BL) among students in schools for the blind in south eastern Nigeria with a view to offering treatment to those with remediable blindness.

Methods: 142 students attending three schools for the blind in the study area were interviewed and examined using the World Health Organization programme for prevention of blindness (WHO/PBL) childhood blindness proforma.

Results: By anatomical classification, the major causes of SVI/BL identified in the children (aged 15 years or less) were lesions of the lens (30.4%), corneal lesions (21.7%), whole globe lesions (mainly phthisis bulbi) (17.4%), and glaucoma/buphthalmos (10.9%). For the young adults (more than 15 years) these lesions accounted for 31.9%, 21.3%, 23.4%, and 8.5% of SVI/BL, respectively. For all the students, the commonest single diagnoses were cataract (23.5%) and corneal scarring (21.4%), of which 86.7% were caused by measles. By aetiological classification, childhood factors (38.6%) constituted the major cause of blindness: 37.0% in the children and 39.4% in the young adults. In 74.5% of all the students, blindness was considered avoidable.

Conclusions: A high proportion of childhood blindness in schools for the blind in south eastern Nigeria is avoidable. Development of paediatric ophthalmology in Nigeria to manage childhood cataract and glaucoma is advocated.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. World Health Organization. Preventing blindness in children: report of a WHO/IAPB scientific meeting. Geneva, WHO, 2000 (unpublished document WHO/PBL/00,77). In: Gilbert C, Foster A. Childhood blindness in the context of VISION 2020 the right to sight. Bull World Health Organ 2001;79:227–32. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Foster A. Childhood blindness. Eye 1988;2(Suppl):527–36. - PubMed
    1. Kietzman B. Endophthalmitis in Nigerian children. Am J Ophthalmol 1968;65:211–20. - PubMed
    1. Olurin O. Etiology of blindness in Nigerian children. Am J Ophthalmol 1970;70:533–40. - PubMed
    1. Animashuan A. Measles and blindness in Nigerian children. Nig J Paediatr 1977;4:10–13.

Publication types