Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026
Using an Automated Hirschberg Test App to Evaluate Ocular Alignment
Published on: March 24, 2020
Hospitalization rates of children who are blind
Julie M Crewe1, Geoff Lam, Antony Clark
1Centre for Population Health Research, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Insights
Children experiencing blindness have significantly higher hospitalization rates and longer stays compared to sighted peers. This increased healthcare utilization is linked to complex comorbid health conditions, particularly respiratory issues.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Ophthalmology
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood blindness impacts healthcare utilization.
- Understanding hospitalization patterns in blind children is crucial for resource allocation and care planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of childhood blindness on hospitalization rates.
- To compare reasons for admission and length of hospital stay between blind and normally sighted children.
Main Methods:
- A matched cohort study design was employed.
- Legally blind children (2003-2009) were age- and gender-matched with normally sighted controls.
- Hospital morbidity records were analyzed using multivariate negative binomial regression models.
Main Results:
- Blind children experienced four times more hospital separations and six times longer hospital stays than controls.
- Over 90% of separations and bed days were concentrated in a subset of blind children.
- Blind children had significantly more comorbidities (40x) and a high incidence of respiratory conditions.
Conclusions:
- Childhood blindness is associated with increased and prolonged hospitalizations.
- Complex comorbid health problems, especially respiratory diseases, contribute to higher healthcare needs in blind children.
- Targeted interventions for comorbidities may reduce hospitalizations in this population.
Background:
To evaluate the impact of blindness on hospitalization rates of children.
Design:
Matched cohort study.
Participants:
Children confirmed as legally blind (2003-2009), age- and gender-matched to control cohort of normally sighted children from the state register of births.
Methods:
The rates and reasons for admission to hospital were compared using hospital morbidity records. The association of blindness with rates of admission and length of stay in hospital, 2003-2010, were estimated using multivariate negative binomial regression models.
Main Outcome Measures:
Descriptive statistics, incident rate ratios, and predicted means for hospital separations and length of stay.
Results:
Fifty-nine blind and 59 control children had a combined total of 107 separations accounting for 237 bed days in hospital after the index date of legal blindness. The median age at the index date was 8 years. Over 90% of separations and 92% of bed days were incurred by 22 blind children. Blind children had four (95% confidence interval 1.9-9.3) times more hospital separations and stayed in hospital six (95% confidence interval 1.9-17.5) times longer than the control cohort children. There were more than 40 times as many comorbidities recorded by the blind children (n = 201) compared with the control children (n = 5). A third of the blind children were hospitalized for respiratory conditions.
Conclusions:
Children who are born or become blind in childhood have more and longer periods in hospital than sighted children likely because of complex comorbid health problems. There was a disproportionate incidence of comorbid respiratory diseases in the blind children.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
02:07Blind Procedures
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...