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Vision Screening Results in a Cohort of Bhopal Gas Disaster Survivors


Affiliations
1 Bausch and Lomb School of Optometry, Brien Holden Institute of Optometry and Vision Sciences, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad 500 034, India
2 Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science, British Columbia, Canada
 

Eye-related symptoms were prominent at the time of and soon after the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. We conducted a vision screening on the survivors to examine their current ocular status. Fifty-nine patients enrolled. We analysed the results from 48 patients (mean age 51 ± 12 years) who had a documented history of gas exposure. The commonly reported symptoms were vision difficulties (n = 30), watering (n = 21) and headaches (n = 16). Thirty patients needed spectacles, 30 had cataracts and 17 had pinguecula. We found the prevalence of pinguecula to be significantly higher in this cohort. The need for vision care among this underserved population is highlighted.

Keywords

Dry Eyes, Gas Disaster, Headache, Pinguecula, Vision Screening, Watering.
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  • Vision Screening Results in a Cohort of Bhopal Gas Disaster Survivors

Abstract Views: 486  |  PDF Views: 132

Authors

Prem Nandhini Satgunam
Bausch and Lomb School of Optometry, Brien Holden Institute of Optometry and Vision Sciences, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad 500 034, India
Leonid Chindelevitch
Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract


Eye-related symptoms were prominent at the time of and soon after the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. We conducted a vision screening on the survivors to examine their current ocular status. Fifty-nine patients enrolled. We analysed the results from 48 patients (mean age 51 ± 12 years) who had a documented history of gas exposure. The commonly reported symptoms were vision difficulties (n = 30), watering (n = 21) and headaches (n = 16). Thirty patients needed spectacles, 30 had cataracts and 17 had pinguecula. We found the prevalence of pinguecula to be significantly higher in this cohort. The need for vision care among this underserved population is highlighted.

Keywords


Dry Eyes, Gas Disaster, Headache, Pinguecula, Vision Screening, Watering.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv112%2Fi10%2F2085-2088