Objective: To assess the prevalence of visual impairment and unmet eye care needs of the Syrian adult refugee population in Canada.
Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.
Participants: Enrolment was offered to all Syrian refugees 18 years or older, with 248 patients enrolled.
Methods: Five clinics were organized from July 2016 to November 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. A vision screening and dilated retinal examination was performed on all participants. Prevalence of visual impairment and nonrefractive pathologies as well as information on sociodemographics and subjective visual acuity were obtained.
Results: The mean age of participants was 36 years (interquartile range, 30-35) and 53% were females. The prevalence of reported uncorrected vision problems was 22.2% for distance vision, 6.5% for near vision, and 5.6% for both distance and near vision, including loss of vision. Compared with the Canadian population, Syrian adult refugees were 19.04 times more likely to report uncorrected vision problems (34.4% vs 1.8%, p < 0.01). The presenting visual acuity in the better-seeing eye was 20/50 or worse in 19.4%. Pinhole improved this to 12.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.7%-17.3%). Compared with the Canadian population (0.95%), Syrian adult refugees were 13 times more likely to have 20/50 vision or worse (p < 0.01). The most common finding was refractive error in 46.0% (95% CI, 39.6%-52.4%) followed by nonrefractive error in 30.2% (95% CI, 24.9%-36.2%).
Conclusions: This is the first study to assess ocular health in a refugee population in Canada. Syrian adult refugees have a high prevalence of visual impairment, even when living within a system of universal health care.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.