{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,27]],"date-time":"2026-03-27T14:43:05Z","timestamp":1774622585591,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]],"date-time":"2021-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629849600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this study was to analyse outpatient services in an ophthalmic clinic of a church-run hospital providing secondary level care in an African megacity, paying special attention to the poorest users of the services. The range of examination was reviewed from 500 patient records of all ages consecutively chosen on random days attending the outpatient department for the first time in order to optimize workflow and to analyse the offered treatment modalities. Mean age was 41.9 \u00b1 21.9 years, and 53.6% of the patients were female. Of the patients, 74.8% presented with visual impairment. The most frequent findings were refractive errors (35.8%), presbyopia (21.2%), allergic conjunctivitis (14.0%), cataract (13.2%) and glaucoma (6.4%). Patient management consisted of optical treatment (49.6%), surgery (11.4%) and medical treatment (39.0%). These results show the importance of the demand in refractive services and the need to train specific service providers. Knowing the frequencies of common conditions enables more appropriate diagnostic and treatment strategies, e.g., the importance of refractive errors, and should lead to improvements in training, staffing, therapeutics and patient outcomes. This approach can be applied to many other outpatient services and should be evaluated in light of the city\u2019s impoverished health outreach and educational situation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10173791","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]],"date-time":"2021-08-25T04:24:27Z","timestamp":1629865467000},"page":"3791","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Ocular Morbidity\u2014A Critical Analysis to Improve Outpatient Services in an Eye Department in a Sub-Saharan Megacity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Edith","family":"Mukwanseke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre de Formation Ophtalmologique Pour l\u2019Afrique Centrale, Eye Department, Saint Joseph\u2019s Hospital, Kinshasa P.O. Box 322, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Janvier","family":"Kilangalanga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre de Formation Ophtalmologique Pour l\u2019Afrique Centrale, Eye Department, Saint Joseph\u2019s Hospital, Kinshasa P.O. Box 322, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Flavien","family":"Lutete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre de Formation Ophtalmologique Pour l\u2019Afrique Centrale, Eye Department, Saint Joseph\u2019s Hospital, Kinshasa P.O. Box 322, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3367-3231","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Hopkins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Programme for Eye Health and Vision, Kinshasa P.O. Box 322, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rudolf F.","family":"Guthoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Rostock University Medical Centre, 18057 Rostock, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefanie","family":"Frech","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Rostock University Medical Centre, 18057 Rostock, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1016\/S2222-1808(13)60064-X","article-title":"Pattern of ocular morbidity in Nigeria","volume":"3","author":"Ukponmwan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Asian Pac. J. Trop. 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