Frequency of Ocular Diseases in the Prisoners of District Jail Lahore

Abstract

Objective: To find the frequency of different ocular diseases in the prisoners of district jail, Lahore. Place and Duration of Study: Health care unit within the vicinity of jail during 1st week of June 2014. Material and Methods: Total number of jail inmates was 3050. Two hundred and seventy individuals reported ocular problems who were examined by the visiting team. Complete eye examination was performed and data was collected. The patients with refractive errors were given spectacles and diseases manageable with eye drops were treated accordingly. Patients having glaucoma, cataract, retinal disorders of diabetes or hypertension were referred to Mayo Hospital for more detailed examination and free treatment. This activity was a joint venture of Social Welfare Department-Home Department Punjab, Administration of District Jail Lahore and College of Ophthalmology and Allied Vision Sciences, King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital Lahore. The jail inmates were the beneficiaries of this project and all medicines and spectacles were provided free of cost, funded by Sight Savers, Pakistan. Results: There were 56.29% individuals who had normal vision (better than 6/12). 79% of inmates were more than 40 year of age. Conjunctivitis was seen in 3%, glaucoma in 1% and cataract in 2% of the individuals. There was 4.07% Myopia (n = 11), 3.33% Hypermetropia (n = 9), 2.22% Astigmatism (n = 6) and cases of Presbyopia were 34.07% (n = 92). Conclusion: Screening jail inmates to prevent and control ocular diseases is essential to blindness in this community.