Childhood Vision Impairment and Refractive Error in Zimbabwe: A Hospital-based Retrospective Study

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the causes and distribution of vision impairment and refractive error among children in Zimbabwe. 

Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among children (3-16) who attended the Eye Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe, from January 2010 to December 2020. Patients' records were collated, and variables such as visual acuity, ocular morbidities, and vision impairment were analysed. 

Results: During this time, 1038 children with mean age of 10.63 ± 3.54 years visited the facility. The majority of them were males (53.2%). Prior to treatment, 9.9% of the children had vision impairment which reduced to 3.5% after intervention. Uncorrected refractive error accounted for the majority of vision impairment (67.0%), followed by keratoconus (7.8%), corneal opacity/ulceration (6.8%), and amblyopia (6.8%), among other conditions. Astigmatism (60.6%) was the most prevalent type of refractive error followed by myopia (37.5%). 

Conclusion: The prevalence of childhood vision impairment is higher than that found in similar hospital-based studies conducted in Africa. The most common reason for childhood vision impairment was uncorrected refractive error.