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Management of childhood cataract: practice patterns among ophthalmologists in Nigeria

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Abstract

Objective

To describe the practice patterns for the management of paediatric cataracts among ophthalmologists practising in Nigeria.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of fully trained Nigerian ophthalmologists who perform cataract surgery in children aged 16 years and below. An online questionnaire was distributed via e-mail and social media platforms to respondents. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, type, location and years of practice, status and preferred approach to management of childhood cataracts were obtained and analysed.

Results

A total of 41 ophthalmologists responded that they perform paediatric cataract surgery. Of these, 25 (61.0%) were paediatric ophthalmologists while 7 (17.0%) were general ophthalmologists. Most respondents (92.7%) practise in urban settings and 30 (73.2%) work in tertiary hospitals. Most respondents (90.2%) routinely insert intraocular lenses (IOLs) in children aged 2 years and above while 32 (78.0%) routinely under-correct the IOL power. Thirty-four (82.9%) have an anterior vitrectomy machine, 31 (75.6%) routinely perform posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy, and 17 (58.5%) routinely perform same-day sequential bilateral cataract surgery. Twenty-six (63.4%) respondents routinely give near correction in aphakic children, while 24 (58.5%) respondents routinely give bifocals in pseudophakic children. Compared to other sub-specialists, paediatric ophthalmologists were 24 times more likely to routinely under-correct IOL power (p = 0.001) and 4 times more likely to routinely correct near vision in aphakic children (0.036) as well as prescribe bifocals for pseudophakic children respectively (0.029).

Conclusion

The practice of paediatric cataract surgery in Nigeria is mainly in line with expected standards, but there is a need for the development of detailed practice guidelines.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria for permission to disseminate the survey forms via her social media platforms. MOU and BAO have received support as Fellows of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA). CARTA is jointly led by the African Population and Health Research Center and the University of the Witwatersrand and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Grant No. G-19-57145), Sida (Grant No:54100113), Uppsala Monitoring Center, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), and by the Wellcome Trust [reference no. 107768/Z/15/Z] and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, with support from the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science in Africa (DELTAS Africa) programme. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the Fellows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Mary Ugalahi, Bolutife Olusanya & Aderonke Baiyeroju

  2. Vision House Clinics, Mokola, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Olusegun Adediran

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  1. Mary Ugalahi
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  3. Bolutife Olusanya
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  4. Aderonke Baiyeroju
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Contributions

MOU designed the study, collected data and drafted the manuscript. OAA analysed the data and critically reviewed the manuscript. BAO and AMB designed the study and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bolutife Olusanya.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was carried out in adherence to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for the study was sought and obtained from the University of Ibadan/ University College Hospital Ethical Review Board. Informed consent was obtained from all respondents and information obtained from the respondents was treated with strict confidentiality.

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Ugalahi, M., Adediran, O., Olusanya, B. et al. Management of childhood cataract: practice patterns among ophthalmologists in Nigeria. Eye (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02755-x

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