Prevalence and associated factors of visual impairment among adults at Debre Berhan town, North Shewa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment refers to presenting distance visual acuity worse than 6/18 in the worst eye. It remains a global challenge that greatly affects the mobility, social participation and the quality of life of the people. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of visual impairment among adults aged ≥ 18 years. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Debre Berhan town. Systematic random sampling method was employed to select the study participants from adult's aged ≥18 years. Data was collected by interview with a pre-tested semi structured questionnaire. Both anterior and posterior segment ocular examinations were done by Optometrists and Ophthalmologist. After all ocular examinations adult's aged ≥18 years with presenting Visual acuity of < 6/18 in the worst eye were considered as visually impaired. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the determinant factors and p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 416 participants were enrolled in the study with a 98.6% response rate. The prevalence of visual impairment among adults aged ≥ 18 years was 16.8% (95% CI, 13.5-20.2%). Among the overall prevalence of visually impaired adults 27 (6.49%) had bilateral VI and 43 (10.34%) had monocular VI. Aged > 64 years (AOR = 12.18, 95%CI: 4.47-33.20), illiterates AOR = 3.02, 95% CI: 1.36-6.72), previous eye trauma (AOR = 4.44, 95% CI: 1.64-12.04), family size > 5 (AOR: 4.44, 95% CI: 1.43-13.75) and family history of eye problem (AOR = 7.02, 95% CI: 1.95-25.22) had statistically significant association with visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of visual impairment among adults was found to be a significant public health problem. Older age, illiterates, previous eye trauma, large family size and family history eye problem were positively associated with visual impairment.