[Eye and general illnesses in the public school for blind and visually handicapped students in Saarland. Developments in the last 20 years].

BACKGROUND

The aim of the study was the evaluation of how ophthalmological diagnoses and the proportion of multiply handicapped children has changed within the last 20 years at a state school for visually handicapped and blind children.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

A profile investigation was conducted on all 105 children at the Landesschule für Blinde und Sehbehinderte des Saarlandes and compared to the results of an examination from 1975.

RESULTS

The predominant ophthalmological diagnoses were: optic atrophy (17.5%), ocular albinism (11.9%), scar-stage IV and V of retinopathy of prematurity (11.1%), as well as tapetoretinal dystrophies with related syndromes (8.7%) and myopia magna (7.9%). Blind: 10.3% (1975: 36.4%); visually handicapped: 47.1% (1975: 49.2%); multiply handicapped: 42.5% (1975: 14.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

(1) The diseases that dominated in earlier years in schools for the visually handicapped have become rare (cataract, aphakia, buphthalmia, macular dystrophy--all less than 5%); (2) the proportion of completely blind pupils has become much smaller; (3) there is an increasing tendency to educate visually handicapped pupils in regular schools with integrative aids; (4) there is also an increasing proportion of multiply handicapped children (school and kindergarten: 42%, early patronage 74%).