Prevalence and associated factors of retinal disease as detected on the cirrhus fundus camera at Mulago hospital out-patient eye clinic

Abstract

Introduction: Retinal diseases are among the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness. Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH) ophthalmology clinic recently procured a cirrhus fundus camera for the diagnosis of retinal diseases; however, there is no published information yet about the prevalence of retinal diseases, their patterns and associated factors, among patients at this clinic. Aim: To determine the prevalence, patterns and associated factors of retinal diseases among patients at MNRH ophthalmology outpatients’ clinic. Methods: A cross-sectional study that involved 573 patients who visited the ophthalmology outpatients’ clinic between January 2017 and April 2020. A data extraction tool was used to collect information from the patients’ cirrhus fundus camera images and medical records. Data was fed into Epidata 4.2.0.0 and analyzed with STATA 13. Prevalence and patterns of retinal diseases were determined as proportions. Factors associated with retinal disease were examined using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Retinal diseases were found among 45.4% (260/573) patients. The most common retinal diseases were diabetic retinopathy (n=72;27.7%), age-related macular degeneration (n=49;18.8%), hypertensive retinopathy (n=25;9.6%), macular hole (n=15;5.8%) and infectious retinopathy (n=14;5.4%). Hypertension (aOR 1.92; 95% CI: 1.32-2.80) and diabetes mellitus (aOR 2.37; 95% CI: 1.58-3.55) were significantly associated with retinal diseases. Conclusion: Prevalence of retinal diseases observed among patients at MNRH ophthalmology outpatients’ clinic was high, majority of the cases were due to diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and hypertensive retinopathy; and retinal diseases were significantly associated with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Recommendation: Screening for retinal diseases among diabetes mellitus and hypertension patients is recommended.