Prevalence and Pattern of Ocular Diseases Among Children Aged 7-14 Years Visiting a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Central India

Purpose: Ocular morbidity in children hinders their overall development. The prevalence and pattern vary amongst countries as well as within a country. Many ocular diseases if diagnosed and treated on time can prevent ocular morbidity in children to a large extent. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and pattern of ocular diseases in children (7-14 years) presenting to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, a tertiary care teaching hospital in central India. Methods: This is a single-center, hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted from June 2018 to August 2019. A total of 1276 children between 7 and 14 years of age were included. A thorough ocular examination was done and a diagnosis was noted. Statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel, Version 2013 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) and IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 1276 children, 505 (39.6%) were of 7-10 years while 771 (60.4%) were of 11-14 years. There were 563 females (44.1%) and 713 males (55.9%). The most common ocular morbidity was a refractive error, (653; 51.1%), it was significantly higher in the age group 11 to 14 years than in children of 7 to 10 years of age (p<0.03). The second most prevalent ocular morbidity was infection/inflammation of the adnexa (18.8%) of which males were affected more than females (p<0.0005). The other morbidities were squint and neuroophthalmological-related diseases (8.3%), followed by trauma (3%), congenital diseases (2.6%), amblyopia (2.4%), degenerative diseases (0.7%), neoplastic (< 0.01%), and miscellaneous disorders (1.6%). Conclusion: The majority of ocular disorders are preventable and treatable. The most common ocular morbidity in our study is refractive error. We recommend school-based screening programs for timely detection and correction of refractive error and to prevent amblyopia.