Ocular diseases among school age children presenting at District Head Quarter Hospital Karak

ABSTRACT

To review the pattern of ocular diseases among school age children with age range from 5 - 15 years in outdoor patients of Eye Unit District Head Quarter [DHQ] Hospital Karak. This study was conducted in Eye unit DHQ Hospital Karak from August 2007 to October 2008. Total 1168 consecutive children with different ocular diseases were examined. All patients were evaluated with a detailed history, a thorough ocular examination comprising of refraction, slit lamp examination, fundus evaluation followed by relevant investigations. Proper proforma was prepared for the documentation of demographic profile and diagnosis. Out of 1168 patients, 641 [54.88%] were male and 527 [45.12%] were female. Regarding diagnosis, 603 [5 1.62%] patients had refractive errors. 141 [1 2.07%] had lid diseases, 122 [10.44%] had spring catarrh, 82 [7.02%] presented after trauma, 64 [5.47%] had strabismus, 61 [5.22%] had bacterial conjunctivitis, 37 [3.16%] had lens related disorders, 19 [1.62%] had ptosis, 17 [1.45%] had dacryocystitis, 16 [1.36%] had retinal diseases and 6 [0.5%] patients had glaucoma. Refractive errors are the most common cause of ocular morbidity among school age children followed by lid diseases. Conjunctivitis, trauma and strabismus also contributed a significant fraction