Ocular morbidity screening among school children in Chennai

Abstract

Background: Child’s vision is most essential for their successful learning. Poor vision in childhood affects performance in school and thereby their future. the A study of pattern of ocular disorders in children is very important because some eye conditions like high Myopia, congenital anomalies invariably lead to Blindness. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of various ocular disorders among school going children in the age group 5-15 years in an urban population. Methods: This cross sectional study was done among school going children of age 5-15 years. The criterion for classifying as visually impaired was visual acuity less than 6/9 in one or both eyes. The sample size was calculated by the prevalence of refractive errors in school children as 20% with an alpha error of 5% and relative precision 10%. Prevalence of ocular morbidities and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. By applying Chi-square tests, the differences in proportions were considered significant at 5% level. Results: This cross sectional study was conducted among 1580 children aged 5- 15 years. Among the selected children, 55.1% were males and 44.9% were females. Children with visual impairment due to various ocular morbidity were 22.3% (353). Among them, 19.3% had refractive error; amblyopia in one eye was 0.9%, followed by vitamin A deficiency 0.6% and congenital anomalies 0.1%. Conclusions: Early detection and treatment of eye health problems in school children is essential for the prevention of blindness.