Pattern of squint presentations in children in a tertiary institution in Western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Strabismus is a common condition in children, but there is paucity of studies done exclusively on it in Nigeria Objective: To describe the pattern of presentation of strabismus among children presenting at the eye clinic, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, Nigeria Study design:-Retrospective. Results: Strabismus constituted 0.01% of paediatric ophthalmic presentations to OOUTH over a 5year period of between January 2008 and December 2012.Age range is from 0.75-16years with a mean of 4.9years. The male female ratio was 1:2. Esotropia was the most common type of squint while the predominant refractive error was astigmatism. Only 5(31.3%) of those whose onset was before 6months presented on or before 1 year There was very low uptake of treatment in these children. Conclusion: The prevalence of strabismus was low intensive health education of parents and teachers is necessary to encourage early presentation and good uptake of treatment as this has a direct effect on visual and cosmetic outcome.