Prevalence of childhood eye diseases

Abstract

Objective: Population or hospital-based studies of the epidemiology of childhood eye diseases in Turkey are limited. Therefore, we aimed to establish the eye disease and treatment frequencies in a cohort of children presenting to a single pediatric ophthalmology clinic in Istanbul. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective review of the hospital files of 500 children admitted to the pediatric ophthalmology clinic of Atakoy Dunyagoz Hospital with eye complaints between January 2016 and July 2017. Results: The female to male ratio in the study cohort was 1:1. Of these patients, 38.6% were 0-5 years old, 31.6% were 6-11 years old, and 29.8% were 12-18 years old. Out of 500 children, 483 (96.6%) were diagnosed with one or more eye diseases. A refractive error was the most prevalent eye disease, which was recorded in 434 patients (86.6%), followed by conjunctivitis (24.4%), strabismus (11.8%), amblyopia (9.2%), and glaucoma (8.0%). There were no significant differences between the male and female patients in terms of prevalences of any of the eye diseases. The children who were 6-11 years old had remarkably lower prevalences of refractive errors (70.3%) and amblyopia (3.2%) than the children that were 0-5 years old and 12-18 years old (p<0.05). The treatments administered for these eye diseases included, in the order of frequency, eyeglasses, medication, occlusion therapy, contact lenses, and strabismus operations. Conclusion: Refractive errors, conjunctivitis, strabismus, and amblyopia were the diseases most commonly encountered in the pediatric ophthalmology clinic daily practice. Increasing the public's knowledge and raising awareness is crucial for better and earlier management of childhood eye diseases.