Demographics and Pattern of Ocular Diseases in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Aims: To determine the demographics and pattern of ocular diseases in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.

Study Design: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the Dialysis clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria from February 2013 to February 2014.

Methodology: The Sample size was estimated to be 85 adult patients and cconsecutive adult patients with chronic renal failure who are having haemodialysis were enrolled into the study. The patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly booked at the Dialysis Clinic and had no prior knowledge of the study; hence there was no bias in case selection. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutions ethical committee. Each participant had a comprehensive ocular examination including fundus photography. Subjects needing further evaluation and treatment were referred to the Eye Clinic of the Ophthalmology Department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt.

Results: A total of 170 eyes of 85 persons were examined in this study (100% coverage). A total of 30 (35.4%) females and 55 (64.6%) males were examined giving a male to female ratio of 1.8:1.

Approximately half of the study subjects (54.1%) had no previous eye problem prior to developing chronic renal failure while about a quarter (n= 20, 23.5%) had refractive error and difficulty in reading near prints .After diagnosis of chronic kidney disease however a total of 40 (47%) of study subjects had visual impairment while 2(2.4%) were blind and 43(50.6%) of the study population however had normal vision.

Conclusion: Chronic Kidney disease is an important cause of ocular morbidity in our environment with majority of those affected being males in the third to fifth decades of life. Posterior segment disorders were the commonest disorders seen.