Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and pattern of refractive errors and the
prevalence of blindness in Ogun State.
METHOD: A cross sectional descriptive survey. 780 respondents aged 15years and above
were randomly selected from 1125 attendees of different medical outreaches carried
out in 5 Local government areas of Ogun State between August 2012 and March 2013.
Respondents underwent ocular examination and refraction [automated objective and
then subjective].
RESULTS: Seven hundred and eighty respondents were examined. Mean age of
respondents was 49.14±18.37 years [yrs] with a range of 15 yrs to 100 yrs and a female
preponderance of 52.8%. Most [67.7%] had presenting visual acuity[VA] of at least 6/18
while 14.3% were legally blind [VA worse than 3/60].
Astigmatism was the most prevalent refractive error [40%] but on conversion to
spherical equivalents, hyperopia [28.5%] became the most prevalent error.
Apart from refractive errors, cataract and glaucoma were found to be the other major
causes of visual impairment amongst the respondents.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of refractive errors and blindness in the study population
was higher than previously documented with hyperopia being the most prevalent spherical
equivalent refractive error. An urgent integration of primary eye care into the existing
primary health care system for prevention of blindness is advocated
