VISUAL HANDICAP CERTIFICATES: A TOOL TO EVALUATE THE CAUSES FOR PERMANENT VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN KURNOOL DISTRICT

Aim: To analyze the causes of visual impairment amongst the patients coming for the visual handicap certificate and its application in eye health planning to prevent the blindness.

Methods and Materials: A retrospective data analysis of medical records of 1020 people who had applied for the visual handicap certification. Examination was done by the ophthalmologists appointed for the handicap board. BCVA < 20/60 to 20/120 in better eye was included in visual impairment Cat I (40%) and BCVA 20/200 or less is blindness category II to IV (75%to100%).

Results: Majority of them belonged to age group of 16 year to 45 years of age, 264 cases got rejected, 530 individuals had mild visual Impairment (< 40%), in 136 individual’s moderate visual impairment (40%) was found in 90 individuals had sever visual impairment to blindness. Overall Optic Atrophy was the most common cause followed by Retinitis Pigmentosa, followed by macular pathology followed by corneal opacity followed by phthisis bulbi followed by amblyopia.

Conclusion: Visual handicap registers are useful for the rehabilitation of visually impaired individuals and to assess the pattern or causes of blindness in particular area. The most common etiological factors causing visual impairment in our study are preventable so we propose the empowerment of the school health system and general health delivery system.