Aghaji Ada E, Ezegwui Ifeoma R, Shiweobi Jude O, Mamah Cyril C, Okoloagu Mary N, Onwasigwe Ernest N
a Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus Unit, Department of Ophthalmology , College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus , Enugu , Nigeria.
b Department of Ophthalmology , Federal Teaching Hospital , Abakaliki , Nigeria.
Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2017 Dec;24(6):401-405. doi: 10.1080/09286586.2017.1320412. Epub 2017 May 22.
To determine the prevalence and causes of childhood blindness in an underserved community in south-eastern Nigeria using the key informant method.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Key informants (KI) appointed by their respective communities received 1-day training on identification of blind children in their communities. Two weeks later, the research team visited the agreed sites within the community and examined the identified children. The World Health Organization eye examination record for blind children was used for data collection. Data entry and analysis were done with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0.
Fifteen blind or severely visually impaired children (age range 3 months to 15 years) were identified in this community; nine of these were brought by the KIs. The prevalence of childhood blindness/severe visual impairment (BL/SVI) was 0.12 per 1000 children. By anatomical classification, operable cataract in 6 (40.0%) was the leading cause of BL/SVI in the series; followed by optic nerve lesions (atrophy/hypoplasia) in 3 (20.0%). The etiology of BL/SVI is unknown for the majority of the children (66.7%). It was presumed hereditary in four children (26.7%). Sixty percent of the blindness was judged avoidable. Only three children (20.0%) were enrolled in the Special Education Centre for the Blind.
The prevalence of childhood BL/SVI in our study population is low but over half of the blindness is avoidable. There may be a significant backlog of operable childhood cataract in south-eastern Nigeria. The KI method is a practical method for case finding of blind children in rural communities.
采用关键 informant 方法确定尼日利亚东南部一个服务不足社区儿童失明的患病率及病因。
这是一项描述性横断面研究。由各自社区指定的关键 informant（KI）接受了为期 1 天的关于识别其社区内失明儿童的培训。两周后，研究团队走访了社区内商定的地点，并对识别出的儿童进行了检查。使用世界卫生组织的盲童眼部检查记录进行数据收集。数据录入和分析使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）17.0 版完成。
在该社区共识别出 15 名失明或严重视力受损儿童（年龄范围为 3 个月至 15 岁）；其中 9 名是由 KIs 带来的。儿童失明/严重视力受损（BL/SVI）的患病率为每 1000 名儿童中有 0.12 例。按解剖学分类，6 例（40.0%）可手术治疗的白内障是该系列中 BL/SVI 的主要原因；其次是 3 例（20.0%）视神经病变（萎缩/发育不全）。大多数儿童（66.7%）的 BL/SVI 病因不明。4 名儿童（26.7%）推测为遗传性。60%的失明被判定为可避免的。只有 3 名儿童（20.0%）在盲人特殊教育中心就读。
我们研究人群中儿童 BL/SVI 的患病率较低，但超过一半的失明是可避免的。在尼日利亚东南部可能存在大量可手术治疗的儿童白内障积压。KI 方法是在农村社区发现盲童病例的一种实用方法。
