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Introduction: Visual impairment is a major public health problem in developing countries where there is no enough health-care service. It has a significant impact on the affected child's psychological, educational and socioeconomic experiences, during childhood and beyond. Therefore, the aim of this review was to estimate the pooled prevalence of visual impairment and its associated factors among children in Ethiopia. Method: This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed based on the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant published articles in Ethiopia from 2011–2021 were searched in PubMed/Medline, HINARI, Google scholar, and conference paper and thesis or research final reports were accessed from Ethiopian Universities' repositories. Data was extracted in Microsoft excel by using JBI data extraction checklist. The pooled prevalence and odds ratio of associated factors with their 95% CI was computed by using STATA 14/SE software. A fixed effect meta-analysis model was employed for a Cochrane Q test statistic and I2 test showed there was no heterogeneity in the included studies. Result: A total of 7,647 children from nine studies were included in this study. The overall prevalence of visual impairment among children in Ethiopia was 7% (95% CI: 6, 7%). The pooled prevalence of visual impairment by region was almost similar in Ethiopia. However, there was no significant association between the identified factors and visual impairment among children. But the result showed that being males (AOR 0.642, 95% CI: 0.357–1.156), Children in the age of 10–13 years (AOR 0.224, 95% CI: 0.046–1.102) and 14–18 years (AOR 0.508, 95% CI: 0.102–2.534) were found to be less likely to have visual impairment. On the other hand, children of parents with visual impairment (AOR 1.820, 95% CI: 0.381–8.698) more likely to have visual impairment. Conclusion: Visual impairment among children in Ethiopia is still a public health problem one year later to VISION 2020, a global initiative aimed to eliminate avoidable blindness. All most one out of fourteen children in Ethiopia had visual impairment. Therefore, the government of Ethiopia should focus on effective, efficient, comprehensive eye health care services by integrating with the national health system to prevent avoidable visual impairment among children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Vitreoretinal diseases are common causes of ocular morbidities and blindness. Data on the spectrum of vitreoretinal diseases needs to be studied and known in order to establish appropriate vitreoretinal care setups. The aim of this study was to determine the patterns of vitreoretinal diseases among patients who visited the vitreoretina clinic of University of Gondar Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, NW Ethiopia (UoG-TECTC). Methodology: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted from October/2017-September/2018. All patients who visited the vitreoretinal clinic for the first time during the study period were studied. Data were collected with standardized data extraction format entered into SPSS statistical package Version 20 and analyzed. Result: A total of 739 new patients who visited the vitreoretinal clinic were included in the study. The mean age was 50.26 +/- 19 years. The age group between 21–60 years accounted for 59.7% of study patients. Male's accounted for 63.1% and 58.7% of the participants were from urban areas. Bilateral disease was diagnosed in 504 (68.2%) of patients and 220 (29.7%) were bilaterally blind at presentation. Three hundred eighty nine (52.6%) of them had duration of illness six months and above. Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Rhegmatoginous Retinal Detachment (RRD) were the top three retinal diseases accounting for 21.3%(196), 17.3% (128) and 12.4% (92) of diagnoses respectively. Systemic comorbidities were found in 44% (325) of the patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia being the commonest, occurring in 27.8%, 6.3% and 2.8% of study patients respectively. Cataract was the commonest ocular comorbidity seen in 33.5% of study participants. Conclusion: Vitreoretinal diseases affected a significant number of patients presented to our center and most of the study patients presented late with significant vision loss and blindness. Males were affected more than females and the age group between 21–60 years accounted nearly two-third of study patients. This is the working age group suffering from vision loss from vitreoretinal diseases. DR, AMD and RRD were the commonest retinal pathologies accounting for nearly half of the vitreoretinal diseases and these conditions are treatable either surgically or medically. However, available facilities for the management of these diseases are not adequate at the center. Strengthening the vitreoretinal services of UoG-TECTC with relevant equipment is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Visual impairment can severely affect the quality of life, with a tremendous negative impact on job performance and socioeconomic status. This substantially affects the psychological status of people with visual impairment. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with psychological distress among visually impaired Ethiopian adults attending the University of Gondar Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center in Gondar City, northwest Ethiopia. A total of 206 adults with visual impairment (a presenting VA ≤ 6/18 in at least one eye) and 206 adults with normal vision were included in the study. Psychological distress was measured using a standardized self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20). Chi-square and binary logistic regression analysis were performed. Variables with a P-value of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The overall prevalence of psychological distress in the study participants was 31.07% (95% CI: 26.2, 35.8). Psychological distress was higher (43.2%; 95% CI: 36.5, 50.5) and statistically differed (p = 0.02) in visually impaired compared to adults with normal vision (18.9%; 95% CI: 14.1, 24.3). Duration of vision loss ≥ 2 years (AOR = 8.70; 95% CI: 2.38, 31.46), sudden loss of vision (AOR = 3.50; 95% CI: 1.10, 18.30), unmarried (AOR = 5.53; 95% CI: 1.66, 18.43), living lonely (AOR = 8.40; 95% CI:1.48, 4.74), College and above educational status (AOR = 2.50; 95% CI:1.47, 10.61), and loss of vision in both eyes (AOR = 1.70; 95% CI: 2.00, 14.10) were variables with a significant association with psychological distress among visually impaired adults. Conclusion: This study revealed that the prevalence of psychological distress was significantly higher among visually impaired adults than among adults with normal vision. The effect of visual impairment on psychological distress was significantly related to marital status, living arrangements, educational status, duration of vision loss, pattern of vision loss, and laterality of vision loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]