Abstract
Ocular and vision defects are common among school going children. Vision disorders, especially refractive errors are the main disabilities of children and the leading cause of handicapping conditions of childhood. The present study was conducted to find out ocular morbidity among students of government schools of Kathmandu valley. In the descriptive and cross-sectional study, 2412 students, comprising of 1114 (46.2%) males and 1298 (53.8%) females were enrolled in to the study from the five government schools of Kathmandu valley from 2012 to 2013. Detailed eye examination included distance visual acuity testing, anterior and posterior segment examinations, retinoscopy and refraction, cover test, near point of convergence, amplitude of accommodation and color vision test. The Chi-square test was performed to analyze the association between ocular morbidity, age and sex. P value was considered significant at 0.05 for 95% confidence interval. Majority of children were age group between 11 and 13 years (n= 783, 32.5%). A male to female ratio was 0.85. Presenting and best spectacle corrected visual acuity of 6/6 was present in 2257 (93.6%) and 2380 (98.7%) respectively. Total ocular morbidity was observed in 515 (21.4%) subjects. The most common types of ocular morbidity were refractive error in 241 (10%), conjunctivitis in 104 (4.3%) and convergence insufficiency in 82 (3.4%). Refractive error, conjunctivitis and convergence insufficiency represent the most common ocular morbidities among students of government schools.
Highlights
Ocular and vision defects are common among school going children
Community based, and cross-sectional study, five government schools in Kathmandu valley were selected for repeat eye examination from 2012 to 2013
The purpose of the study was explained and an informed consent was received from the head of the schools and the parents of the students who were present at the time of eye examination
Summary
Ocular and vision defects are common among school going children. The present study was conducted to find out ocular morbidity among students of government schools of Kathmandu valley. Prevalence of ocular morbidity and refractive error has been conducted among different groups of children in many parts of Nepal. Way back in 1981, Nepal Blindness Survey identified relatively few cases of the childhood blindness, and the finding mostly comprised of ocular infections, xerophthalmia and congential cataract.[3] A refractive error study from the Mechi zone conducted in 1997, reported visual morbidity in 2.9% children.[4] In the recent studies across Nepal, ocular morbidity was reported to range from 9.8% to 33.7%.5-10. A report of a comparative study on ocular morbidity among children of government and private schools of Kathmandu valley In the recent studies across Nepal, ocular morbidity was reported to range from 9.8% to 33.7%.5-10 A report of a comparative study on ocular morbidity among children of government and private schools of Kathmandu valley
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