Clinical characteristics of keratoconus patients at the University of KwaZulu-Natal eye clinic

African Vision and Eye Health

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Clinical characteristics of keratoconus patients at the University of KwaZulu-Natal eye clinic
 
Creator Rupnarain, Shishka Madlala, Nomvelo Memela, Ntokozo Ngcobo, Simpiwe Shabalala, Nonkazimulo Simjee, Naseera Gcabashe, Nonkululeko Rampersad, Nishanee
 
Subject Optometry; ophthalmology keratoconus; clinical characteristics; eye clinic; retrospective review; contact lenses
Description Background: Patients with keratoconus, which is a common corneal ectasia, often present to specialised clinics for management. Understanding the clinical characteristics of keratoconus patients can help improve knowledge of the presentation and management of this corneal ectasia and predict the needs of the clinic providing care for affected individuals.Aim: To describe the clinical characteristics of keratoconus patients attending the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) eye clinic.Setting: University of KwaZulu-Natal eye clinic.Methods: The study used a retrospective research design by reviewing the clinical record cards of patients attending the UKZN contact lens eye clinic over a 4-year period (January 2014 to December 2017). Data related to age, clinical characteristics and method of management of the keratoconus patients were extracted and analysed using descriptive statistics.Results: Just less than one-quarter of all patients (n = 1210) attending the UKZN contact lens eye clinic had keratoconus that was most often bilateral. The mean age at presentation was 25.2 ± 9.6 years with 74% of the sample being younger than 30 years. More than 90% (n = 419) of the sample reported refractive reasons as the primary reason for presenting to the clinic. The majority of the sample had severe keratoconus (n = 257) and rigid contact lenses were most commonly used for management of keratoconus patients.Conclusion: Keratoconus presents at an early age with a more severe grade and it is most commonly managed using rigid contact lenses. These findings should be considered for keratoconus screening, diagnosis and treatment programmes in KwaZulu-Natal.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2020-02-10
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Retrospective review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/aveh.v79i1.528
 
Source African Vision and Eye Health; Vol 79, No 1 (2020); 7 pages 2410-1516 2413-3183
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/528/1165 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/528/1163 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/528/1166 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/528/1162
 
Coverage South Africa January 2014-December 2017 keratoconus patients
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Shishka Rupnarain, Nomvelo Madlala, Ntokozo Memela, Simpiwe Ngcobo, Nonkazimulo Shabalala, Naseera Simjee, Nonkululeko Gcabashe, Nishanee Rampersad https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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