Exposure keratopathy in a mentally retarded adult population.
BACKGROUND
Mentally retarded patients are often found to have exposure corneal disease. No study could be found that documented the prevalence of this corneal disorder among these patients.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted on a population of 210 mentally retarded adults to determine the prevalence of clinically significant exposure keratopathy.


RESULTS
17.6 percent of this population was found to have this disorder mostly due to incomplete blinking.


CONCLUSIONS
Exposure keratopathy was found to be a significant ocular health problem among this population. Since many of these people cannot verbalize their discomfort it is recommended that the optometrist tailor his or her examination so this disorder is not overlooked and untreated.
Jaworski
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies