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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 121, No. 1: 71-77
Copyright © 1985 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

XEROPHTHALMIA AMONG NEPALESE CHILDREN1

MADAN P. UPADHYAY2, BHUPENDRA J. GURUNG, K. KESAVA PILLAI and BHAGAWAT P. NEPAL

2Reprint requests to Dr. M.P. Upadhyay, Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine, Post Box 2162, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal

A nationwide sample survey was conducted between July 1980 and June 1981 to determine the prevalence of xerophthalmia among Nepalese children. Population proportionate random samples were drawn from the 12 geopolitical subdivisions of the country by employing multistage sampling technique. The survey population was defined as the child population of rural Nepal between the ages of 0 and 14 years. The per cent prevalence of xerophthalmia in Nepal was 1.65 for Bitot's spots, 0.02 for comeal ulcer, and 0.03 for comeal scar. While cases of Bitot's spots were more prevalent in the plains of Nepal, followed by the mountains and the hills, the reverse was true for comeal lesions. Vitamin A deficiency was found to be responsible for one-third of acquired bilateral blindness in preschool children. All comeal cases in the study were accompanied by diarrhea and malnutrition, indicating xerophthalmia to be symptomatic of the whole spectrum of malnutrition.

eye diseases; health surveys; malnutrition; vitamin A deficiency; xerophthalmia

1From the Nepal Xerophthalmia Survey Project, Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepal Xerophthalmia Survey Project is a joint undertaking of the Nepal National Council for Science and Technology and the Tribhuvan University, Institute of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology (Dr. Upadhyay).


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