Prevalence and Management of Ocular Allergy Among Children Aged Under Five Years Attending the Eye Clinic of our Lady Of Grace Hospital at Breman Asikuma, Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: Ocular allergy, referred to as allergic conjunctivitis, is characterized by inflammatory responses in the conjunctiva and other ocular surfaces which is mediated by hypersensitivity reaction to allergens. Certain forms of ocular allergy contribute to corneal blindness causing visual impairment in children and placing limitations on the quality of life of children. However, ocular allergies are often under reported and its care either ignored or undermanaged by parents and caregivers. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and management of ocular allergy among children aged under five years attending the Eye clinic of Our Lady of Grace Hospital at Breman Asikuma. Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cross sectional study was conducted. Data was collected by desk review of medical folders. Available medical folders of all children aged under five years who were presented for eye care at Our Lady of Grace Hospital between January 2018 and December 2019 were reviewed. Descriptive statistics was done by computing means, frequencies, percentages and proportions. A Pearson chi square test and logistic regression was used to determine association and strength of association between sociodemographic characteristics and Ocular Allergy respectively looking at adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval. Results: The prevalence of ocular allergy and its sight threatening form, vernal keratoconjunctivitis, among children aged under five years was 41.4% and 11.1% respectively. Males were predominantly affected. Majority of the children diagnosed with ocular allergy were between ages 12 months to 36 months and mostly resided in urban areas. Ocular itching, redness of the eyes, tearing, mucoid discharge, and rubbing of the eyes were the commons ocular complaints reported. On the average, children experienced signs and symptoms of ocular allergy for five months before being sent to the clinic by parents or caregivers for eye care. Mast cell stabilizers were mostly used to manage children with ocular allergy. Age was significantly associated with ocular allergy (χ²=82.3936; p = 0.000) and children aged 12 to 35 months (aOR = 3.34; 95% CI = 2.35 – 4.75; p = 0.000) and 36 to 59 months (aOR = 4.76; 95% CI = 3.26 – 6.95; p = 0.000) had increased odds of being prone to ocular allergy compared children aged 0 to 11 months. Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed that the burden of ocular allergy among children aged under five years is high with about a quarter of them being sight threatening. There is a need to create awareness about the condition in the study population and improve early care seeking behavior.