Causes of Visual Impairment Among the Registered Visually Disabled: A Retrospective Study

Purpose To study the causes of visual impairment among Bahraini patients registered as visually disabled. Materials and methods A retrospective descriptive study of all patients referred to the Ministry of Social Development for visual disability from January 2014 to December 2019 was performed. Information recorded were age, gender, the cause of the visual impairment, and visual acuity in the better eye. If a patient had multiple ophthalmic diseases, the untreatable disease causing visual impairment was recorded. Patients were considered to have visual impairment according to World Health Organization criteria. Results A total of 484 Bahraini patients were included in the study. The mean age was 57.3 years of age ranging from 3 to 100 years; 63% of the total cases were males. The most common cause of visual impairment was diabetic retinopathy (DR) 201 (41.53%), followed by glaucoma 161 (33.26%). This is followed by hereditary and congenital disorders 34 (7.02%), glaucoma combined with DR 21 (4.34%), other retinal diseases 17 (3.51), retinitis pigmentosa 14 (2.89), optic atrophy 9 (1.86), corneal disorders 8 (1.65%), age-related macular degeneration 8 (1.65%), and others 11 (0.83%). Conclusion DR and glaucoma are the major causes of visual impairment among adults. Complications leading to visual impairment of both disorders are avoidable. Prevention measures to be taken control these diseases and prevent their morbidity. Congenital and hereditary disorders are the most common causes of visual impairment among children.