OCULAR HEALTH STATUS OF PATIENTS SEEN AT THE SCREENING CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL, BENIN CITY,NIGERIA - A PRELIMINARY REPORT

This study was undertaken to determine the ocular morbidity of subjects seen at the Centre for Disease Control (a screening centre) of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were administered and ocular examination was carried out on 452 subjects seen from August 2010 to May 2011. Patients with minor eye problems were treated while others were referred to the eye clinic of the Hospital. The mean age was 48.01years ±12.64, 19.5% were males while 80.5% were females. Ocular morbidity was seen in 71.2% of the subjects, of which refractive error (54.1%), glaucoma suspect(17.4%), cataract (10.3%) were the major causesThe visual impairment seen in 11.9% of the subjects comprised of refractive error 29.6%, glaucoma suspect 27.7% and cataract 25.9%.Six subjects (1.32%) were blind, with cataract and refractive error responsible for 50% each. Ocular screening is useful in the early detection of blinding eye diseases.