Solebo, Ameenat Lola;
Teoh, Lucinda;
Sargent, Jenefer;
Rahi, Jugnoo S;
(2022)
Avoidable childhood blindness in a high-income country: findings from the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2.
British Journal of Ophthalmology
10.1136/bjo-2022-321718.
(In press).
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Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Addressing childhood visual disability is an international priority, with data on causes needed to plan, implement and evaluate public health and clinical care. We have examined the contribution of ‘avoidable’ blinding disorders to childhood visual impairment, severe visual impairment and blindness (VI/SVIBL) in the UK. METHODS: National prospective observational longitudinal study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), of children (aged 18 years or under) newly diagnosed with vision worse than 0.48 logMAR (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) or equivalent in both eyes. Proportions of children with an ‘avoidable’ disorder comprising either apotentially preventable(isolated disorders with an effective intervention which reduces disease incidence) ortreatable(isolated eye or vision disorders for which there are routinely available effective interventions able to improve vision or halt progressive visual loss) are reported. RESULTS: Of the 784 children within BCVIS2, isolated potentially preventable disorders were present in only 17% (132/784) and treatable disorders in an additional 13% (99/784). The most common treatable causes were cataract, retinopathy of prematurity and glaucoma. Of the 132 children with potentially preventable disease, 64 had hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy. Non-accidental injury accounted for almost two-thirds (11/16, 69%) of those with VI/SVIBL due to injury. CONCLUSION: Despite significant progress in the past decades in high-income countries, there remains a need to be vigilant about implementing preventive strategies and treatments. Attention to disorders that are currently neither preventable nor treatable remains a priority in these settings and will become increasingly important in lower-income and middle-income countries undergoing economic transition.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Avoidable childhood blindness in a high-income country: findings from the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bjo-2022-321718 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2022-321718 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10157378 |
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