Impact of healthcare strategies on patterns of Paediatric Sight Impairment in a developed population: 1984 - 2011: 1984-2011

K Shirley, S Chamney, P Satkurunathan, S McLoone, E McLoone

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Abstract

Purpose: The aim of our study was to analyse paediatric sight-impairment trends in Northern Ireland (NI) over a 28-year period to better understand the impact whcih chsnges in healthcare provision may be having on childhood blindness and to enable us to assess our progress towards achieving the World Health Organisationd (WHO) aims.

Methods: A database of Certificates of Visuals Impairment completed for NI children 16 years old was used to determine cause of sight-impairment from 1984 to 2011. Causes were classified into preventable or treatable conditions and analysed for trends.

Results: 598 children were reigstered as having impaired vision over the 28-year period. 22% had preventable or treatable conditions. Optic atrophy was the most common cause responsible for 16% of registrations followed by albinism (12%), cerebal visual impairment (CVI) (11%), congenital cataract (8%), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (8%) and congenital motor nystagmus (CMN) (7%). The incident rate (per million population under 16 years of age) for registerable vision loss due to congenital cataract decreased from 5.89 (CI 2.82 - 10.83) in 1984-1987 to 2.63 (CI 0.72-6.74) in 2008-2011. For retinopathy of prematurity, the incident rate peaked during 2000 - 2003 at 8.87 (CI 4.85 - 14.88). Thereafter, there was a statistically significant reduction in incident rate to 1.98 (CI 0.41 - 5.77) in 2008 - 2011 (p=0.008).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1537-1545
Number of pages9
JournalEye
Volume31
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Oct 2017

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