TITLE:
Distribution of Eye Diseases in Kasungu District, Malawi, Central Africa—A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study
AUTHORS:
Richard Kang, Jae Jun Kim, Paul Chung, Gyuri Hwang, Jung Sung Kim, Seunghan Baek, Eun Jung Im, George Talama
KEYWORDS:
Eye Diseases, Kasungu District, Malawi
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.8 No.2,
June
12,
2018
ABSTRACT: Analysis of eye diseases of patients at Kasungu District Hospital in Malawi was made. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and the health system faces a lot challenges in terms of resources. The study was, therefore, done to understand the burden and distribution of eye diseases in this resource-limited setting. A retrospective study was conducted by extracting data from data registers in the outpatient eye department for the period of May 2015 to June 2016. The data of the reported eye diseases analyzed with variables such as patient gender, eye disease type, patient age and times of the year. There was no association between eye diseases and gender nor with times of the year. However, it was noted that the commonest type of eye disease was conjunctivitis. And, there was strong association of some disease type with age, for example, conjunctivitis was common in young age group while cataract was common in the elderly. It was shown in this study that many of the eye diseases endemic in Africa do generally occur in this selected district as well. However, the analysis presents the possibility of reducing the incidences of many diseases by preventive measures and access to health facilities on time.