Posted Mon, Jul, 08,2013
Published today in Healthy Aging & Clinical Care in the Elderly is a new original research article by Stephen Ocansey, Kofi Awusabo-Asare, Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme and Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi. Read more about this paper below:
Title
Ocular Health of the Emerging Elderly Population in Ghana: Evidence From a Peri-urban Community
Abstract
Purpose: As people age, the risk of visual impairment increases because the major eye diseases that cause visual disorders are age-related. By the age of 65, 1 in 3 people suffer from some degree of eye disease that contributes to impaired vision. This study assessed ocular disorders, visual impairment, and blindness among an elderly population at Yamoransa, Ghana.
Method: A community based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 170 elderly (aged 60 years and over) persons. The research participants underwent a complete ophthalmic examination that involved visual acuity, external, and dilated internal examinations.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 70 years with 58.2% being females. Visual impairment and blindness were found among 58.7% and 5.9%, respectively, according to their presented visual acuity; these decreased to 45.3% and 5.2%, respectively, after optical correction. About 68.3% of the respondents had poor near vision with only 40% having near reading corrections. The major causes of visual impairment were cataract (42.5%), uncorrected refractive errors (21.8%), retinal disorders (11.4%), and glaucoma (9.8%). Among the elderly with bilateral blindness, cataract was the main cause. Multinomial logistic regression showed that sex had a higher likelihood of being associated with visual disorders compared with age and education (P = 0.001); similarly females, older patients, and the those with no education had higher odds ratios.
Conclusion: The need for increased health education, regular eye examination, and the need to subsidize surgical and refractive eye care services for the elderly in Ghana cannot be over emphasized.
Click here to learn more about the article, download it and comment
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