Traditional Eye Medicine use in Microbial Keratitis in Uganda

PURPOSE: To determine how Traditional Eye Medicine (TEM) use impacts presentation and outcome of Microbial Keratitis (MK). We prospectively enrolled patients presenting with MK at the two main eye units in Southern Uganda between December 2016 and March 2018. We collected information on history, TEM use, microbiology and 3-month outcomes. The main measures were proportion using TEM, presenting time to the eye hospital from onset of symptoms, presenting vision and at 3-months. All analysis compared TEM Users versus Non-Users. We found that TEM is widely used to treat MK in Uganda, for many reasons. Patients who had used had poorer clinical presentation and outcomes compared to those who had not used TEM.