The prevalence and pattern of ocular disorders among mentally ill patients in Mathari Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
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Date
2008-05Author
Muinde, T
Kimani, K
Ilako, D
Kathuku, D
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: To establish the prevalence and pattern of ocular disorders in
psychiatric patients admitted in Mathari Hospital.
Design: Hospital based cross sectional study.
Setting: Mathari Hospital wards from November 2006 to February 2007.
Subjects: Three hundred patients admitted in Mathari Hospital wards that scored
>22 marks on the mini mental state exam (MMSE) and gave consent.
Results: A total of 300 patients were seen. The prevalence of ocular disorders
in this group of patients was 41.3%. The commonest disorders were lens and
corneal deposits which contributed 42.7%, refractive errors 25.8%, cataracts
5.6%, glaucoma 4.8%, while other conditions contributed 21.1%. There were
no reported cases of self-infl icted ocular injuries. Fifty four patients had ocular
side effects commonly associated with antipsychotic drugs (lens and corneal
deposits and retinal pigmentary changes) and hence the prevalence of ocular
side effects of antipsychotic drugs was 18%.
Conclusions: There is a relatively high prevalence of ocular disorders in this
group of patients (41.3%). The prevalence of ocular side effects for antipsychotic
drugs was relatively high at 18%.
Citation
East African Journal of Ophthalmology May 2008Publisher
Department of ophthalmology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi
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- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]