The Epidemiology and Type of Macular Disease Seen in a Teaching Hospital in South-West, Nigeria

Aim: To examine the epidemiology and types of macular disease in our environment in order to advocate possible preventive interventions or address current behaviours that fall within established risk factors.

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Place and Duration of Study: The department of Ophthalmology, Ladoke Akintola University of technology (lautech) teaching hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria. June 2011 to May 2012.

Methodology: The charts of patients seen during the study period were reviewed.

Patients with age-related maculopathy were classified into wet and dry. Blindness and low vision were defined according to the world Health Organization definition.

Results: One thousand and eight patients were seen during the study period and out of these, forty two patients (4.17%) were found to have macular disease. Of the 42 patients with macular disease, 29 (69.05%) had age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).

There were 19 (45.2%) males and 23(54.8%) female patients with their ages ranging between 10 and 80 years and mean of 58.69 years (SD 15.25).

Two (4.76%) were bilaterally blind while 9(21.43%) were blind in only one eye. Ten (23.81%) had low vision.

Conclusion: Macular disease is prevalent in this environment and ARMD is the commonest cause of macular disease. It is therefore necessary to educate the people about the established known risk factors in ARMD causation.