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AIM: To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) and level of depression among participants with high myopia in Nigeria and the demographic factors associated with these outcomes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 adult participants with high myopia (defined as refractive error ≤-5.00 D or worse, and uncorrected visual acuity worse than 6/18 in the better seeing eye) attending ophthalmology centres in Nigeria from 2 October 2021 to 30 August 2022. The means and standard deviations were calculated for each of the four domains of World Health Organization Quality of life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) using the transformed scores. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale was used to assess the level of depression. RESULTS: The highest and the lowest mean scores of WHOQOL-BREF domains were found for the psychological and physical health domains (mean percentage scores were 67.0 [95% confidence intervals (CI) 64.1-68.9] and 55.3 (95%CI 51.8-58.8, P<0.001), respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences in physical health with educational status (higher among those with tertiary education: mean difference 0.9, 95%CI -0.2-2.1; P=0.049), differences in psychological health with working status (higher among those who were working 1.2, 95%CI 0.3-2.1; P=0.012). Also, the result showed a statistically significant association between environmental health and marital status (higher among non-married: 1.7, 95%CI -0.9-2.3; P=0.012) while overall health was associated with place of residence (higher in urban areas: 2.3, 95%CI 1.2-3.5; P=0.024). For depression, one in every nine participants reported major depressive symptom, mostly younger people (aged 16-29 vs 30-49y: 17.0% vs 0, P=0.019), and slightly more women than men (14.3% vs 0, P=0.064). There were significant negative correlations between the depression scores and psychological health (r=-0.48, P<0.001), physical health (r=-0.29, P=0.002), social and relationship (r=-0.49, P<0.001), environmental (r=-0.48, P<0.001) and overall health (r=-0.49, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: People with high myopia have a relatively moderate QOL, but poor physical health, particularly the younger age group, and women who are more likely to experience clinically relevant depression. Eye care professionals should consider possible referrals for counselling for people with high myopia.
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Aim: To determine the causes of tractional retinal detachment (TRD) in Nigerians. Materials and Methods: A prospective, multicentre study evaluating eyes diagnosed to have TRD. History, clinical examination (including visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, anterior segment examination and dilated fundoscopy) and systemic evaluation (including previous diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, sickle-cell disease and others) were performed in TRD eyes out of a cohort of retinal detachment eyes. Results: The prevalence of TRD of the 237 patients diagnosed with RD within a one-year study period was 25.7% (61 patients). Eighty eyes were diagnosed with TRD. Thirty-eight eyes of nineteen patients (31%) were bilateral, and 42 (69%) were unilateral. There were 38 male patients (62.3%) and 23 female patients (37.7%). The mean age was 52.3 ± 12.7 years (11-69 years). 88.5% of all TRD patients had an associated systemic disease, diabetes being the most common disease in 88.8% of them. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy was the most common cause of TRD (77.5%) and the most common cause of bilateral TRD. Both trauma and proliferative sickle-cell retinopathy occurred in 3.8% of the eyes. 68.8% of TRD eyes were blind at the presentation. However, the causes of TRD did not show any significant association with blindness (P = 0.819). Conclusion: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy poses a significant threat to vision, being the most common cause of TRD. Early detection and treatment of proliferative retinopathy in diabetes and sickle-cell disease, and trauma prevention will significantly reduce the burden of blindness due to TRD.
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Background: Exudative retinal detachment (ERD) is a rare type of retinal detachment (RD), and information on its causes and presentation in Nigerians and Black Africans is scarce. Aim: To report the prevalence, vision at presentation, and causes of ERD in a cohort of RD patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective, multicentre, hospital-based study. We examined consecutive eyes diagnosed with ERD in ophthalmic patients seen within 1 year in four ophthalmic hospitals in Nigeria. The patients had a complete eye examination, including visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, slit lamp examination of the anterior segment, dilated fundus examination, and other ancillary investigations. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Nine out of 237 patients were diagnosed with ERD, giving a hospital-based prevalence of 3.8% of RDs. The mean age of patients was 45.8 ± 21.6 years (6 months-80 years), male:female = 2:1. ERD was bilateral in one patient and unilateral in eight patients. There was no gender association (P = 0.84), but systemic disease was associated with a risk of ERD (P = 0.001). Five out of 9 (55.6%) patients had an associated systemic disease. The systemic diseases include two patients (40%) who had chronic renal failure, two patients (40%) who had systemic hypertension, and one patient (10%) who had lung cancer. Other ocular causes of ERD include post endophthalmitis, coats disease, and age-related macular degeneration in one eye each. 80 % of eyes were blind at presentation. Conclusion: ERD is a rare form of RD in Nigerians and is associated with systemic diseases. There are inflammatory, neoplastic, vascular, and degenerative causes of ERD. At presentation, most eyes are blind. Early presentation will be beneficial in salvaging vision. Also, awareness of the occurrence and causes of ERD should be created amongst eye care practitioners.
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PURPOSE: The major objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the coping strategies of glaucoma patients at a secondary eye care unit with a view to deciding whether an intervention programme would be justified. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The coping styles of 130 consenting adult glaucoma patients aged 18 years and above who were being treated for glaucoma in the Cross River State Eye Care Programme clinic in Calabar, Nigeria, were investigated by means of the 28-item Brief-COPE inventory in this descriptive cross-sectional study. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 54.2 years (±14.3) while almost three quarters (73.8%) of them were married. About four out of every five persons examined (81.5%) had a minimum of primary education. "Substance (alcohol and other drug) use", "self-blame" and "behavioural disengagement" are coping styles that were reported by 33%, 42% and 42% of the participants, respectively. This group of patients should be identified in the clinic for appropriate psychological intervention. CONCLUSION: The present study confirms previous findings and contributes additional evidence that suggests that coping strategies should be considered in the holistic management of glaucoma patients. The information from the current study can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at improving the coping styles of glaucoma patients.
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OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine visual status of children with special needs attending special schools in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of all children with special needs attending special education schools in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area, Cross River State, was performed. Data were obtained using interviewer-administered questionnaires on the caregivers and ocular examination of the children which included visual acuity, refraction, ocular alignment and motility tests and funduscopy. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. RESULTS: A total of 161 children with special needs out of the 176 enrolled were examined yielding a 91.5% response rate. The male-to-female ratio was 1.2:1. Their age range was 5-17 years with the mean age of 12.9 ± 3.3 years and a modal age group of ≥13 years. Twenty (12.4%) had visual impairment (VI). Uncorrected refractive error accounted for 12 (60%) of the VI. Children with learning disability (odds ratio [OR]: 3.28 and 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.73-6.36) and developmental disability (OR: 1.90 and 95% CI: 1.10-3.20), respectively, had significantly higher occurrence of VI. Of the 161 children examined, only 11 (6.8%) have had their visual status assessed in the past. CONCLUSION: Children with special needs had higher prevalence of VI; however, only a few have had an assessment of their visual status in the past.
