Visual handicap certificates: A tool to evaluate the causes for permanent visual impairment in Northern Maharashtra

Aims: To analyse the causes of visual impairment amongst the patients coming for the visual handicapcertificate and its application in eye health planning to prevent the blindness.Methods and Materials: A retrospective data analysis of medical records of 553 people who had appliedfor the visual handicap certification. Examination was done by the ophthalmologists appointed for thehandicap board. BCVA BCVA20/200 or less is blindness category II to IV(75%to100%).Data was analysed using SSPE softwareand Chi square test for significance.Results: The prevalence of male patients was significantly higher than that of females (pof them belonged to age group of 16 year to 45 years of age, 332 (60.03%) individuals had mildvisual Impairment( in162(29.29%) individuals had sever visual impairment to blindness, over all phthisis (p=0.0001)was themost common cause followed by corneal opacity(p=0.0249)and Amblyopia (p=0.03). Most of the causesare preventable and some of them are emerging as complications of cataract surgery, increased road trafficaccidents and occupational hazards.Conclusion: Visual handicap registers are useful for the rehabilitation of visually impaired individualsand to assess the pattern or causes of blindness in particular area. The most common etiological factorscausing visual impairment in our study are preventable so we propose the empowerment of the school healthsystem and general health delivery system, early detection of amblyogenic factors and its timely treatment,applying strict safety precautions to factory workers who are prone to ocular injuries and increased safetyfor road traffic in Northern part of Maharashtra.Keywords: Visual impairment, Amblyopia, Phthisis, Handicap certificate.