Oral health findings, needs and demands of visually impaired children in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

An estimated 253 million people live with vision impairment: 36 million are blind and 217 million have moderate to severe vision impairment (Bourne 2017). Few studies were done in Saudi Arabia on visual impaired population. In 1986, a revealed that 1.5% of the Saudi population is fully blind, while 7.8% is partially blind according to the World Health Organization definition. The etiology of visual impairment varies with different population groups. According to the WHO the most common cause of visual impairment in the developing world is untreated cataract (43%) and different ocular disease secondary to diabetes mellitus (24%).1 In developed countries the most common cause of visual impairment is cited as age-related macular degeneration. THe Royal National Institute for the Blind stated that only 8% of people have a congenital visual impairment with the rest developing a visual impairment through local or systemic disease, accidents or age-related degeneration.2 Furthermore, a huge proportion of adults with a visual impairment relate to hearing problems which may require further help to the provision of dental care.3 Some of the causes of visual impairment may be associated with other medical problems, such as cardiac defects or diabetes, which are more likely to take an effect on dental care than the visual impairment.4 Visual Impairment has an impact on oral health through physical, social, or informational barriers related to impairment, medical condition and associated medical disorders. Visually impaired people are challenged every day in their daily activities. The effects of blindness are many, but one of the most common is the inability of the individual to maintain oral health.5 Despite the high prevalence of visually impaired people in Saudi Arabia, there is no sufficient information about oral health in this population. It is essential to assess the oral needs and demands of this under-privilege population for one to be able to set policies and plan for oral health program, the purpose of this study is to assess the oral health status of children with a visual impairment.