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Ngozika Ezinne,1 Haile W Alemu,2 Tarekegn Cheklie,2 Kingsley Ekemiri,1 Ryan Mohammed,1 Sakeem James1 1Optometry Unit, Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies; 2Department of Optometry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Tarekegn Cheklie, Email tarekegncheklie2691@gmail.comBackground: The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown obligated higher education students to attend online courses, leading to prolonged exposure to digital displays. Excessive time on digital devices could be a risk factor for ocular problems, including symptomatic dry eye. There are limited evidences to show the magnitude of symptomatic dry eye disease and its associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to fill this gap, among university students in Trinidad and Tobago.Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students attending the University of West Indies, Saint Augustine Campus from October 2020 to April 2021. The standardized ocular surface disease index questionnaire, descriptive statics and binary logistic regression were used to assess the prevalence and associated factors of dry eye diseases. Variables with a p-value of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.Results: Four hundred (96.3%) participants completed the questionnaire. Among all, 64.8% were female and 50.5% were east Indians. About 48% were using visual display units for average of 10– 15 hours/day. The prevalence of symptomatic dry eye disease was 84.3% (95% CI = 80.8– 87.5%) with OSDI score ≥ 13. Lack of education about dry eye 2.69 (95% CI: 1.41– 5.13), use of the reading mode of computer 3.92 (95% CI: 1.57– 9.80), refractive error 3.20 (95% CI: 1.66– 6.20), previous systemic medications 2.80 (95% CI: 1.15– 6.81), and average hours of visual display unit use/day (p< 0.001) were significantly associated with symptomatic dry eye disease.Conclusion: Symptomatic dry eye disease was a prominent problem among students at the University of West Indies. Average of > 4 hours of visual display unit use/day, refractive error, positive history of systemic medication, lack of education about dry eye, and using computers in reading mode were associated factors.Keywords: symptomatic dry eye disease, prevalence, associated factors, West Indies, Caribbean

Tambuzai Liyo,1 Grace Obumneke Ogbonna,1 Thokozani Mzumara,1,2 Ngozika Esther Ezinne3 1Department of Optometry, Mzuzu University, Mzuzu, Malawi; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Mzimba North District Hospital, Mzimba, Malawi; 3Optometry Unit, Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine Campus, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and TobagoCorrespondence: Grace Obumneke Ogbonna, Department of Optometry, Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201, Mzuzu, Malawi, Email Ogbonnagrace19@gmail.comPurpose: To assess the prevalence of ocular morbidities and associated factors among hearing-impaired (HI) students at the Embangweni School for the Deaf in Mzimba, Malawi.Methods: This was an institutional cross-sectional study of HI students at Embangweni School for the Deaf. A series of optometric and audiometric tests was performed, and the results were exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science for statistical analysis (SPSS) version 25. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to assess correlations and associations between variables. A P-value less significance was set at p < 0.05.Results: A total of 147 children comprising of 76 (51.7%) males and 71 (48.3%) females participated in this study. The prevalence of ocular conditions and visual impairment was 39 (26.5%) and 2 (1.4%), respectively. The Prevalence of eye disease was significantly associated with male sex (p=0.02) and type of HI (p=0.031). Allergic conjunctivitis 36 (24.5%) was the most common ocular condition, followed by refractive error 28 (19%).Conclusion: The prevalence of ocular conditions among HI students was significant and associated with sex. Regular school vision screening of students with HI is highly advised to reduce the burden of visual impairment.Plain Language Summary: Hearing impairment places a great burden on the sufferers. Ocular conditions among this population further disadvantages them in terms of education and personal development. The current study evaluated the prevalence of ocular conditions among school children at the Embangweni School of the Deaf. We observed that there is high prevalence of eye conditions among this population which was more prevalent among the males. Conjunctivitis was the most prevalent ocular condition. There is a great need for regular vision screening for this population for early detection and management of ocular conditions among them.Keywords: child health, hearing impairment, ocular morbidity, special education, vision screening, visual impairment