Establishing the Profile of Eye Diseases Among Elderly Patients Attending a Tertiary Hospital in Northern, Malawi.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Globally, there has been a dramatic increase in the geriatric population. Sadly, this populace is highly prone to develop various ocular morbidities. Aim: To determine the distribution of ocular morbidities among elderly. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at Mzuzu Central Hospital in Malawi. We retrieved data from the hospital’s ophthalmology out-patient registry from January 2021 to December 2021. A non-probability census sampling technique was used to recruit 970 elderly patients. Data entry and analysis was done employing SPSS (v.26) Results: More males than females had ocular morbidities. Cataract 400 (41.2%) was the most prevalent ocular morbidity followed by glaucoma 189 (19.5%), pinguecula 48 (4.9%) and allergic conjunctivitis 43 (4.4%). Majority of patients were attended to in July. Outer segment diseases were common. The prevalence of cataract, glaucoma, refractive error and allergic conjunctivitis was significantly associated with sex (p<0.05). Age association was found with the prevalence of cataract, glaucoma, pinguecula, allergic conjunctivitis and corneal scar (p<0.05). Conclusion: The pattern of eye diseases is endemic to the country. More resources should be targeting cataract and glaucoma among the age group.