Visual Status in a Portuguese Population with Intellectual Disability

Pedro Serra, Regina Costa, Nuno Almeida and António Baptista
Additional contact information
Pedro Serra: Instituto Superior de Educação e Ciências, Alameda das Linhas de Torres, 1750-142 Lisboa, Portugal
Regina Costa: Novas Olimpiadas Especiais—Special Olympics Portugal, Rua Sítio do Casalinho da Ajuda, 1300-536 Lisboa, Portugal
Nuno Almeida: Opening Eyes Portugal—Special Olympics Portugal, Rua Sítio do Casalinho da Ajuda, 1300-536 Lisboa, Portugal
António Baptista: Centre of Physics, Campus Gualtar, School of Sciences, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Neurosensory deprivation associated with vision is a well-known fact in people with intellectual disability (ID). This work aims to report the visual status of a population with ID in Portugal. Methods: A vision screening protocol was conducted during two Special Olympics events. The vision protocol included personal medical history, ocular health evaluation, and clinical measures, such as visual acuity (VA), binocular vision, colour vision, refractive error, and intraocular pressure. This protocol was administered to 134 subjects. Results: Half of the subjects reported that they had never attended or they did not remember having attended a previous eye exam. Additionally, 10% of them had not attended an eye exam in the immediate past three years. Half the subjects failed the VA test and 13% presented moderate Visual Impairment (VI) (VA worse than 0.5 logMAR in the best eye). Manifest ocular deviation was found in 25% of the subjects and the most common ocular health dysfunction conditions were conjunctiva hyperaemia, meibomian gland dysfunction, and lens anomalies. Refractive error correction allowed a reduction in the level of moderate VI to 3.7%. Conclusions: The population analysed showed a poor eye care attendance rate and vision-related conditions are in agreement with previous reports. The development of national strategies to promote the awareness for routine eye care in people with ID and improving accessibility to eye care services may mitigate many of the most prevalent conditions encountered.

Keywords: intellectual disability; ocular health; vision; eye care; vision screening; sports vision (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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