Causes of Childhood Blindness among Children Seen at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, Nigeria

Purpose: To determine the causes of childhood blindness among children seen at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna Nigeria.Method: This was a retrospective chart review of children who attended the National Eye Centre Kaduna from January 2011 to December 2015.Data collected included their age, gender, and laterality of the condition and causes of childhood blindness.Results: Case files of 2145 children aged 0-18 years with a mean age of 5.53 ± 4.39 years were reviewed.Seven hundred and eighty nine (36.8%) children including 334 females (42.3%) and 455 males (57.7%) (Mean=5.53,SD=4.389) were blind in one or both eyes.Out of 789 children with childhood blindness, 468 (59.3%) had unilateral blindness and 321 (40.7%) had bilateral blindness.The causes of childhood blindness were cataract (52.6%), corneal opacity (14.1%), trauma (11.7%), glaucoma (10.3%), retinal disorders (5.7%) and refractive errors (5.6%).Most of the childhood blindness was found among children between 5-12 years (34.5%) and 0 to 1 year (17.8%).Four hundred and fifty nine (58.2%) of the causes of the childhood blindness were preventable, 126 (16%) were treatable and 204 (25.8%) were unavoidable.Conclusion: Most causes of childhood blindness found in children at National Eye Centre, Kaduna are preventable.A comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach comprising of eye examination at birth, children eye screening and early vaccination for infectious diseases, is warranted.