Blindness and visual impairment in a rural area of Southern Togo.

Purpose: To determine prevalences of specific causes of blindness and visua l impairment in a rural area of Southern Togo. Method: A transversal exhaustive screening was conducted. The sample consis ted of the inhabitants aged 5 years and over. From the census, 2293 persons were expected, however, 1738 (75.80%) responded and underwent screening. E ach participant had complete ocular examination, and data collected were pr ocessed for analysis. Results: The mean age of all participants was 28.02 years, men were predomi nant. The prevalence of bilateral visual impairment was 2.13%, prevalence o f unilateral impairment was 1.15%. Bilateral blindness prevalence was 2.47% , while unilateral blindness prevalence was 2.65%. Main ocular blinding dis eases and their prevalences were as follows: cataracts (8.34%), glaucoma (1 .90%), corneal opacities (1.09%). Women were more affected by bilateral vis ual impairment, bilateral blindness and cataract.: p = 0.0106 Men were more affected by glaucoma, corneal opacities and unilateral blindness. Particip ants aged 55 years and over were at high risk of blindness and visual impai rment; p = 0.0104. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that prevalence of blindness is high, a nd its major causes are cataract, glaucoma and corneal opacities. A prevent ion strategy is therefore needed and targeted to these diseaeses.