Spectrum of Eye Diseases Attending Outpatient of Tanta Ophthalmology Hospital: An Observational Ecological Study

Background: The Vision 2020 initiative was ambitious and was essential in catapulting the issue of avoidable blindness in the spotlight and putting it on the global health agenda. The causes of avoidable blindness remain and have not been eliminated. Objective: This study aimed to determine and classify the ocular diseases between patients visiting Outpatient Clinics of Tanta Ophthalmology Hospital. According to this prevalence, our main goals were concentrated on health education, uptake of services, accessibility and acceptability. Subjects and methods: This ecological study was carried on 650 participants between December 2023 and June 2024. All patients in our study were subjected to full history taking by special designed questionnaire for demographic data and underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. Results: The ages of participants ranged widely, from 1 month to 85 years, 54.9% were females. Of the total participants, 76.0% were living in rural areas, 80% were educated, out-door occupation formed 32.9%. OSD is the most common eye disorder (55.69%), errors of refraction (22.46%), cataract (10.46%), DR (4.00%), glaucoma (3.85%), others (3.54%). Significant associations found between diagnosis and occupation in different groups, between diagnosis and diabetes mellitus as an associated systemic disease and between diagnosis and education. Conclusion: The study highlighted common eye disorders in the Delta region of Egypt in a Tertiary Hospital, which is one of oldest Ophthalmic Hospital that belong to Ministry of Health. Conjunctival diseases, refractive errors and cataract were the most common diseases among these disorders, which signify burden of preventable and treatable eye diseases. The associations between diagnosis and occupation needs enhanced patient education to reduce the incidence of vision impairment.