Abstract :
Aims: To analyse the causes of visual impairment amongst the patients coming for the visual handicap
certificate and its application in eye health planning to prevent the blindness.
Methods and Materials: A retrospective data analysis of medical records of 553 people who had applied
for the visual handicap certification. Examination was done by the ophthalmologists appointed for the
handicap board. BCVA < 20>
BCVA20/200 or less is blindness category II to IV(75%to100%).Data was analysed using SSPE software
and Chi square test for significance.
Results: The prevalence of male patients was significantly higher than that of females (p
of them belonged to age group of 16 year to 45 years of age, 332 (60.03%) individuals had mild
visual Impairment(< 40>
in162(29.29%) individuals had sever visual impairment to blindness, over all phthisis (p=0.0001)was the
most common cause followed by corneal opacity(p=0.0249)and Amblyopia (p=0.03). Most of the causes
are preventable and some of them are emerging as complications of cataract surgery, increased road traffic
accidents and occupational hazards.
Conclusion: Visual handicap registers are useful for the rehabilitation of visually impaired individuals
and to assess the pattern or causes of blindness in particular area. The most common etiological factors
causing visual impairment in our study are preventable so we propose the empowerment of the school health
system and general health delivery system, early detection of amblyogenic factors and its timely treatment,
applying strict safety precautions to factory workers who are prone to ocular injuries and increased safety
for road traffic in Northern part of Maharashtra.
Keyword :
Visual impairment, Amblyopia, Phthisis, Handicap certificate.