NDLI: A 12-year follow up survey of childhood blindness at schools for the blind in Cambodia

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Rogerson, Thomas Ath, Sith Sam Meng, Ngy Casson, Robert
Abstract	Background Cambodia is a low-income country in South East Asia with a population of 15.5 million people of whom 4.9 million (38%) are under the age of 16. The causes of childhood blindness in Cambodia have not been investigated since the first survey of schools for the blind done in 2009 by our group. Given the large demographic and economic shifts in Cambodia since 2009 it is important to determine if these causes have changed in order to ensure intervention programmes are appropriately targeted. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of causes of childhood blindness at schools for the blind in Cambodia. Methods Students between the ages of 5 and 16 years who were attending schools for the blind in Cambodia were examined by a consultant paediatric ophthalmologist and had clinical photographs taken. Distance visual acuity was measured using a logMAR tumbling E chart and the WHO definitions of blindness and severe visual impairment were used. The examining ophthalmologist recorded the anatomical site and aetiology of vision loss using the WHO Prevention of Blindness eye examination record for children. Collected data were compared to a previous survey from 2009. Results Data from 73 students were included for analysis. The most common anatomical location of abnormality causing vision loss was the cornea (n = 20, 33.9%) followed by the lens and retina (n = 11, 18.64% each). Hereditary factors (n = 29, 49.15%) and childhood diseases (n = 27, 45.76%) were the most common aetiological causes of childhood blindness. The majority (71.19%) of childhood blindness was avoidable. The present study did not demonstrate 0a significant difference in the causes of childhood blindness compared to 2009. Conclusions Corneal pathologies continue to represent the most common cause of vision loss amongst the surveyed population and the majority of causes of childhood blindness continue to be avoidable. These findings will facilitate the development of evidence-based targeted interventional programmes in Cambodia.
Related Links	https://bmcophthalmol.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12886-024-03285-0.pdf
Ending Page	8
Page Count	8
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712415
DOI	10.1186/s12886-024-03285-0
Journal	BMC Ophthalmology
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	24
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2024-02-13
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Ophthalmology Childhood blindness Cambodia Child Schools for the Blind Ophthalmic Public Health Epidemiology Paediatric Ophthalmology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ophthalmology
Journal Impact Factor	1.7/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	2/2023

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