Abstract
Approximately 19 million children worldwide present with visual impairments resulting from eye diseases and physical causes and, 1.4 million are estimated to be totally blind. Visual impairment among children continues to be a growing public health concern globally with low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) being disproportionately affected. In Zimbabwe, prevalence of blindness, frequency and types of eye conditions children present with are not known. The purpose of this study was to determine the patterns of eye disease among children attending the two tertiary facilities in Zimbabwe (Sekuru Kaguvi, Harare and Richard Morris, Bulawayo) and identifying the major eye conditions that children who attend the Harare and Bulawayo paediatric hospitals present with. A retrospective study design was conducted where hospital records containing patient data about age, gender, visual acuity and clinical diagnosis was retrieved and reviewed. The study had a sample size of 10066 children aged 15 years and below analysed between January 2018 and September 2020. Descriptive statistics were run using Stata statistical software and SPSS version 23. The study was approved by the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ). Study results showed that the most frequent eye conditions are allergic conjunctivitis, eye injuries, lid pathology and refractive error while the least prevalent eye conditions included retinoblastoma, anterior segment disease and uveitis. The most affected age group was children between 0 to 5 years and 6 to 12 years respectively. Males had higher eye disease frequencies than females. Results show a downward trend in the number of children who present with eye conditions per year under study. In 2018, frequency of eye conditions was 56.1% while in 2019, it was 33% and lastly, 10.9% in 2020.
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