Prevalence of chief complaints in two eye clinic populations of pediatrics in Ghana.

Abstract

Vision and Ocular diseases among the pediatrics population in Ghana have not been fully reported in literature as no report has dealt on type and frequency of presenting complaints. In a retrospective study of two major eye care centers- Christian Eye Care center (CEC) and Takoradi Hospital (TH) in central and western Ghana respectively, undertaken to ascertain the type and frequency using 1538 paediatric patients, covering the period Jan 06 to Dec 06. Results showed that the most frequently reported chief complaints were itching, redness and abnormal eye colour >painful eyes > purulent ocular discharge > blurred vision > ocular injuries > eyelid conditions. Results further showed that toddlers were mostly inflicted by purulent ocular discharge while preschool patients complained more of ocular injury and painful eyes. On other hand , children of school age complained mostly of blurred vision, reduced visual acuity indicative of refractive problems or errors. It is concluded that allergic conjunctivitis is the most frequent type of complaint among the pediatric population in Ghana and would give adequate information for epidemiological intervention. Keywords: Pediatric, chief complaint, allergic conjunctivitis, epidemiological