Parental knowledge, attitude and practice related to blindness of children in some selected Upazilla of Bangladesh.

Early detection of blind children at the household and community level is critical in reducing the global burden of visual impairment and childhood blindness. The aim of the study is to identify a range of potential issues relating to parental awareness and perceptions of common eye diseases affecting children. It was a descriptive and cross sectional study. Parents were recruited from four selected Upazillas ('pouroshoba' - 25% and rural - 75%) in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh. The method used in this study to assess parental knowledge and belief was by means of a questionnaire. The selected subjects were interviewed in detail using a structured questionnaire. It is mentionable that among common eye disease, about three-fourth of the parents informed that vitamin-A deficiency was the leading cause of blindness and more than one quarter believed that eye infection was the important cause of childhood blindness. Very few reported that injury in eye was the cause of childhood blindness. Analysis of respondents of this study revealed that half of the parents believed that childhood cataract is untreatable. Approximately 90% those surveyed were unaware of schooling systems for blind children and only 5% sought treatment from an ophthalmologist. This study also demonstrates that the health seeking behavior of parents and their extended families is poor. The mean age of the parents was 32.5±9.3 years, about 75% of parents had education up to primary level, and only 3.7% of them had graduation degree and above. The findings reinforce the necessity of parental awareness of common eye diseases in children and the importance of seeking timely advice including treatment based on informed decisions.

Prevalence and causes of childhood blindness in camps for displaced persons in Khartoum: results of a household survey.

The prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness were determined in 29 048 children < 16 years in all households of 5 camps for internally displaced people in Khartoum State, Sudan. After house-to-house visits by trained health care workers, 916 children received further assessment, 2.7% of whom were found to be blind, 1.6% to be severely visually impaired and 5.5% to be visually impaired, according to World Health Organization criteria. The prevalence of blindness in children in the camps was estimated as 1.4 per 1000 children. The leading causes of blindness were found to be corneal opacities (40.0%), mainly due to vitamin A deficiency, followed by amblyopia (32.5%).

Causes of severe visual impairment and blindness in Bangladesh: a study of 1935 children.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the anatomical site and underlying aetiology of severe visual impairment and blindness (SVI/BL) in children in Bangladesh. DESIGN: A national case series. METHODS: Children were recruited from all 64 districts in Bangladesh through multiple sources. Causes were determined and categorised using standard World Health Organization methods. RESULTS: 1935 SVI/BL children were recruited. The median age was 132 months, and boys accounted for 63.1% of the sample. The main site of abnormality was lens (32.5%), mainly unoperated cataract, followed by corneal pathology (26.6%) and disorders of the whole eye (13.1%). Lens-related blindness was the leading cause in boys (37.0%) compared with corneal blindness in girls (29.8%). In 593 children, visual loss was due to childhood factors, over 75% being attributed to vitamin A deficiency. Overall 1338 children (69.2%) had avoidable causes. Only 2% of the country's estimated SVI/BL children have access to education and rehabilitation services. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large-scale study of SVI/BL children in Bangladesh over two-thirds of whom had avoidable causes. Strategies for control are discussed.

Prevalence and causes of childhood blindness in camps for displaced persons in Khartoum: results of a household survey

The prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness were determined in 29 048 children < 16 years in all households of 5 camps for internally displaced people in Khartoum State, Sudan. After house-to-house visits by trained health care workers, 916 children received further assessment, 2.7% of whom were found to be blind, 1.6% to be severely visually impaired and 5.5% to be visually impaired, according to World Health Organization criteria. The prevalence of blindness in children in the camps was estimated as 1.4 per 1000 children. The leading causes of blindness were found to be corneal opacities [40.0%], mainly due to vitamin A deficiency, followed by amblyopia [32.5%]