Visual Impairment and Blindness in Saudi Arabia's School for the Blind: A Cross-Sectional Study

Visual impairment and blindness are important global health issues as they are associated with high morbidity, mortality, and decreased quality of life, leading to substantial economic loss and productivity. There are only a few published articles on vision impairment and blindness in Saudi Arabia to compare the range of estimated global prevalence of low vision, blindness, and their causes. This study aims to find out the important causes of vision impairment and blindness in schools for the blind in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia.

The cross-sectional study was conducted at the blind schools in Buraidah city of Qassim province. A total of 278 registered cases were included in this study using a systematic random sampling of registered cases. Based on the definitions, the cases were classified as having vision impairment and/or blindness. The data were entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS 25.

The mean age was 30 years (range: 6 to 83 years) and 174 (76.4%) were males and 84 (32.6%) being females. The male:female ratio was 2:1. All the respondents were of Saudi ethnicity. Mild to moderate visual impairment was found in 6%, severe visual impairment in 27%, and blindness was seen in 64% of registered cases. The causes of blindness in these registered cases from blind school were retinitis pigmentosa (26%), optic atrophy (16%), glaucoma (7%), head trauma (6%), nystagmus (6%), retinopathy of prematurity (6%), ocular albinism (4%), corneal opacities (4%), amblyopia (3%) and other causes (22%). Overall, retinal disorders (retinitis pigmentosa and retinopathy of prematurity) were the leading causes of disability followed by optic atrophy.

The findings of this study are useful in planning and implementing screening programs in this area for early identification and corrections, thus preventing permanent loss of sight.