Aetiology of Blindness in Benin City, Nigeria

Background/purpose: To determine the main causes of blindness in Benin-city, Nigeria.
Method: The medical records of 1,698 new patients attending the consultant outpatient eye clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital between May 2001 and April 2003 were reviewed and the causes of blindness recorded.
Results: One hundred and twenty eight patients (7.54%) presented with binocular blindness while 248 patients (14.6%) presented with uniocular blindness. The major causes of binocular blindness were cataract (34.4%), glaucoma (25%) and age related macula degeneration (8.59%). The main causes of uniocular blindness were cataract (23.79%), glaucoma (22.58%) and trauma (11.69%).
Conclusion: Avoidable causes of blindness remain the leading causes of blindness but age related macula degeneration, which was not reported in earlier studies, is now the third major cause of blindness. Preventive and curative measures should be instituted to tackle the leading causes of blindness.