Profile of Amblyopia at the Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic of Menilik II Hospital; Addis Ababa

ABSTRACT

Background- Amblyopia is one of the common causes of childhood and adult visual impairment. Its prevalence is usually underestimated; often because of lack of awareness. Objective: To assess the magnitude and clinical profile of amblyopia among children presenting at the pediatric ophthalmology clinic of Menillik II Hospital in Addis Ababa. Methods: The study was hospital-based and cross-sectional by design; and data were collected during the period of January to June 2007. Visual acuity; refractive status and fixation patterns were assessed and included in the examinations of clinical profiles of children with amblyopia presenting to a Pediatric Ophthalmology clinic in Menilik II Hospital. Results: Out of a total of 2;020 children examined during the study period; 183 (9.1) were amblyopic. Among these 91 (49.7) were males and 92 (50.3) were females. The mean age at presentation was 6.9+3.0 years. Strabismic amblyopia was the most common subtype seen in 39.3(n=72) of children. Fifty (27.3) children had combined amblyopia. One hundred thirteen (61.7) of the amblyopic children had hypermetropic refractive error and 22 (12.0) had myopia. Conclusion: Lack of community or preschool vision screening was the main cause to pick up amblyopic children for timely management of late presentations and significant visual impairment associated with the condition