DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i05.047

Pages: 1685-1690

Visual impairment is one of the health problems that its irreversible effects can be prevented through early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of visual impairments and related factors among people referred to the eye clinic of Ardabil Hospital in 2013. In this cross-sectional, descriptive study, 129 people among those referred to the eye clinic of Alavi Hospital were selected by random sampling method. The data were collected using an author-made questionnaire consisting of three parts of demographic information, visual impairment, and underlying factors which its reliability obtained by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.82). Data were analyzed using statistical methods in SPSS.19. Of all people, 62 participants (48.02%) were male and 67 participants (51.9%) were female. Normal vision of the right eye, left eye, and both eyes was observed in 26.9%, 32.5%, and 40.4% of participants. Among those surveyed, 75 patients (58.1%) were suffering from some sort of visual impairments. The highest and lowest frequencies of visual impairments were related to cataract (52%) and color blindness (8%), respectively. Blurred vision, with a frequency of 52%, was one of the major causes of visual impairment among the people referred to the studied eye clinic. The impact of working activities and reading on visual impairment was 45.6% and 39.5%, respectively. Increased level of awareness and accessibility to eye care services can reduce the burden of visual impairments. Therefore, development of infrastructures, education, and promotion of education, screening, and routine and ongoing visual checkups are recommended for reducing the prevalence and complications of visual impairments and also creating self-confidence and providing social and recreational programs to the blind.