Omung Bhardwaj1 , Nitin Batra2
BACKGROUND India was the first country in the world to launch ‘National Programme for Control of Blindness’ (NPCB) in the year 1976. According to the survey by NPCB 2011, the spectrum of ocular morbidity in India is cataract (62.6%), refractive errors (19.7%), glaucoma (5.8%), posterior segment disorders (4.7%), surgical complications (1.2%), corneal blindness (0.9%) & other causes (5%). Various studies have been conducted regularly across the country to determine the pattern of ocular morbidity. There has been a difference in the spectrum of ocular morbidity in rural and urban eye camps. Ocular morbidities are more prevalent in rural population (2.14%) as compared to urban population (1.8%). We wanted to study the spectrum of ocular morbidity in rural and urban eye camps in Ludhiana district, Punjab and compare the patient profile and spectrum of ocular morbidity between the two. METHODS This retrospective data analysis included all the patients [2,138 patients (Group A1053 patients from a rural eye camp, and Group B-1085 patients from an urban eye camp] who attended the screening eye camps (one rural and one urban) conducted by the Mobile Eye Services, CMC & Hospital, Ludhiana, in October 2019. A brief history of each patient having ocular complaints was noted, along with details of the patients, as per the protocol. A record of the visual acuity with Snellen’s test types for distant and near, the finding of the torch light examination of the anterior segment and wherever performed, the posterior segment details were noted as per the patient’s records. The intraocular pressure readings were also noted. All the findings were recorded, along with the final diagnosis which was then compared for Group A and Group B. RESULTS According to our study, the spectrum of ocular morbidity in the urban population was refractive errors (37.7%), cataract (30.9%), others (25.4%), corneal opacity (4.2%), allergic conjunctivitis (4.1%), glaucoma (2.1%) and pterygium (1%) as compared to the rural population where the spectrum was refractive errors (36.4%), cataract (28.3%), others (23.4%), allergic conjunctivitis (10.5%), corneal opacity (3.7%), pterygium (2.2%) and glaucoma (1.3%). CONCLUSIONS The leading cause of ocular morbidity in our study is refractive errors followed by cataract. However, a significant difference between the populations is seen in the prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy among the two groups. We would suggest a larger sample size for a survey on causes of visual impairment in children, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.
