ArticleInternational ophthalmology2026
Proportion and clinical characteristics of keratoconus among patients attending refraction units: a retrospective facility-based study in Malawi.
Article in International ophthalmology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study assessed the facility-based proportion, demographic profile, clinical characteristics, and factors associated with KC among patients attending tertiary referral refraction clinics in Malawi.
methodsA retrospective cross-sectional review of clinical records was conducted at Malawi's four national referral eye hospitals. Records of patients aged 10-45 years who attended refraction services between January 2014 and December 2018 were reviewed. KC cases were ascertained using predefined clinical criteria. Analyses were performed using R version 4.5.1 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).
resultsOf the 1,400 targeted records, 1,180 (84.3%) were successfully retrieved. The facility-based proportion of KC was 5.7% (67/1180; 95% CI: 4.4-7.2%). KC was most common among individuals aged 18-35 years (p = 0.001) and varied significantly by facility and region (p < 0.005). Blurred vision was the predominant presenting complaint (88.1%), while diagnosis relied primarily on retinoscopy, slit-lamp examination, and keratometry. Significant inter-eye differences were observed for best-corrected visual acuity and astigmatic axis (p < 0.005), but not for keratometric measurements. Median visual acuity improved from 0.2 to 0.6 following refractive correction. In multivariable analyses, cylindrical refractive error remained independently associated (AUC ≈ 0.88) with KC, whereas age and gender were not. Sensitivity analyses produced findings consistent with the primary results.
conclusionKeratoconus represents a substantial clinical burden within Malawi's tertiary eye-care system and is associated with considerable visual impairment. Strengthening early detection, access to corneal imaging, specialised rehabilitation services, and clinical information systems may improve diagnosis, management, and visual outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.