Need for vision rehabilitation in India. Survey of a private eye hospital.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the visual success outcomes following treatment in an urban private eye hospital in India.


METHODS
A retrospective survey was done of 4122 consecutive files of fee-paying patients admitted to a private eye hospital in Hyderabad during a 3-month period in 1996. Data obtained a minimum of 4 months after completion of treatment included age, sex, diagnosis and distance visual acuity in the best eye.


RESULTS
After completion of treatment 86.5% of patients had normal vision, 10.9% had low vision and 2.5% were blind. Of the people with low vision or blindness after treatment, 81.7% had a best corrected visual acuity of between 6/18 and 6/60. The 4 most common causes of low vision after treatment were unoperated cataract (20.4%), glaucoma (13.3%), diabetic retinopathy (12.4%) and retinitis pigmentosa (10.2%).


CONCLUSIONS
The visual success rates in an urban Indian private eye hospital appear high with nearly 90% of patients achieving normal vision after the completion of treatment.
Herse
P
P
School of Optometry, University of NSW, Sydney, Australia.
Gothwal
V K
VK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001766:Blindness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016304:Hospitals, Private; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014505:Urban Population; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*