Clinicodemographic Profile of Visual Disability Among Applicants for Disability Certification in South India

Purpose: To study the causes of visual disability and clinico-demographic factors among applicants for disability certification in a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study analyzing the applications of 194 people who applied for disability certificates between May 2022 and September 2023 at a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka. The causes of visual impairment/blindness, percentage of disability, and respective sociodemographic factors, such as age and sex, were analyzed. The analysis was performed following the visual impairment (VI) disability categories and percentages proposed by the Government of India. Results: A total of 194 applications for disability certificates were analyzed, of which 60.8% (118) were males and 39.2% (76) were females. Most of the applications were from the 35-60 years age group (41.2%), followed by the 18 (26.8%), 60+ (17.5%), and 18-35 years age groups (14.4%). When the specific diagnostic causes of visual impairment and blindness were analyzed, the leading cause was retinitis pigmentosa (18.5%), followed by optic atrophy (11.8%), corneal opacities (9.79%), and pathological myopia (6.7%). Almost one-third of the cases (28.9%) were found to have been preventable causes of VI/blindness. Among these patients, most avoidable cases were under 18 years of age (40.4%). More than half of the applicants were categorized as blind (59.3%), followed by 21.1% with moderate VI, 13.4% with mild VI, and 6.2% with severe VI. Conclusion: This study highlights various causes and associated demographic factors of visual impairment and blindness among applicants for disability certificates. Analysis of the applications for visual disability certification proves useful in obtaining data on the burden of visual impairment on the healthcare system. Although the specific findings are more local in scope, these data provide insight into changing trends in eye disease and can be used to better plan and implement local- and national-level intervention strategies.