Systemic Disease Comorbidities among Ophthalmic Patients in Nigeria: Implications for Preventive Ophthalmology

Background/Aim: Quite often patients who are refracted in our clinics have other ocular or systemic conditions that may affect the result or delay the issuance of spectacle corrections – for instance poorly controlled diabetic patients may have to wait for months to achieve better control of their condition. These associated comorbidities may require medical or surgical intervention before spectacles are ordered. The aim of this study is to determine the systemic comorbidities that exist in ophthalmic patients attending the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Eye Clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which adult patients who presented in the clinic for change of glasses within the stipulated period of the study were included. They were interviewed to get the relevant information and the data retrieved for each patient included baseline information such as age, gender, unaided visual acuity, visual acuity with their last correction if any as well as co-existing ocular or systemic pathology. The collected data was subsequently analysed using Predictive Analysis Software version 20.

Results: Sixty patients participated in study; both males and females were equally represented. Of this this number, thirty-three patients (55%) had systemic comorbidities .Hypertension was present in 43.3% (n=26) while both hypertension and diabetes mellitus occurred in 10% (n=6) of the participants. Forty percent of those with refractive error had hypertension while about 30% of those with glaucoma were both hypertensive and diabetic.

Conclusion: There is a very high level of systemic comorbidities in adult patients attending this peripheral clinic, and this is a pointer to the high prevalence of these conditions in the larger population.