Clinical characteristics and etiology of low vision and blindness in an adult population with visual impairment

Introduction: Low vision and blindness make up the visual disability, one of the types of disability with the highest worldwide prevalence, and apparently the most frequent at a Colombian level. The conventional etiology of permanent and transitory deficiencies responsible for visual impairment such as glaucoma, cataract, infectious blindness and uncorrected ametropias, may be changing due to the presence of other entities and results of public health programs, and it is necessary to extend the etiological spectrum to both Ophthalmological causes as not ophthalmological.

Objectives: To identify the etiology and the most relevant clinical characteristics in an adult population with visual impairment.

Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study in 96 adults with confirmed visual impairment. Results: 61% with low vision; in 55% the etiology of the visual deficiency was in the posterior segment, 21% in the anterior segment and 10% in the pathway and/or visual cortex. The most frequent individual pathologies: Pathological myopia, non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration related to age.

Conclusions: In this study, pathologies with posterior segment involvement occupied the most frequent etiologies related to visual disability, and the neuro ophthalmological and ocular trauma entities were identified as a potential source of visual deficiencies. It is necessary to continue carrying out studies that clarify whether the spectrum of conventional etiologies causing visual disability has changed, with the aim of redirecting programs of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation in low vision and blindness.