Background:

Retinitis pigmentosa is a cause of visual impairment that causes psychological and social alterations to the patient.

Objective:

To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics in visual impaired patients due to retinitis pigmentosa in Sancti Spíritus province.

Methodology:

A descriptive study was carried out, which included 140 visual impaired patients affected by retinitis pigmentosa.

Results:

The age group between 29 and 56 years old was the most affected (78.1 %), 65 % were male, white skin predominated (87.1 %), cataract stood out as an eye condition (13.6 %), 16.4 % presented arterial hypertension; most of the disabled did not present toxic habits (55 %), early debut prevailed in 70 % of cases. The typical form of the disease was observed in 98.5 % of patients, 67 % showed a clinical stage of grade IV disease, as well as autosomal recessive inheritance in 36.4 %.

Conclusions:

Prevalence of patients in the age groups between 29 and 56 years, male, white skin color; cataract as the most frequent ocular pathology together with arterial hypertension within systemic diseases; the majority of the disabled patients did not show toxic habits. Early debut, typical form, stage IV disease, and autosomal dominant inheritance prevailed in the study.

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