Abstract
PurposeAssess prevalence of myopia and identify associated risk factors in urban school children.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study screening children for sub-normal vision and refractive errors in Delhi. Vision was tested by trained health workers using ETDRS charts. Risk factor questionnaire was filled for children with vision <6/9.5, wearing spectacles and for a subset (10%) of randomly selected children with normal vision. All children with vision <6/9.5 underwent cycloplegic refraction. The prevalence of myopia <-0.5 diopters was assessed. Association of risk factors and prevalence of myopia was analyzed for children with myopia and randomly selected non myopic children and adjusted odds ratio values for all risk factors were estimated.ResultsA total number of 9884 children were screened with mean age of 11.6 + 2.2 years and 66.8% boys. Prevalence of myopia was 13.1% with only 320 children (24.7%) wearing appropriate spectacles. Mean myopic spherical error was -1.86 + 1.4 diopters. Prevalence of myopia was higher in private schools compared to government schools (p<0.001), in girls vs. boys (p = 0.004) and among older (> 11 years) children (p<0.001). There was a positive association of myopia with studying in private schools vs. government schools (p<0.001), positive family history (p< 0.001) and higher socio-economic status (p = 0.037). Positive association of presence of myopia was observed with children studying/reading > 5 hours per day (p < 0.001), watching television > 2 hours / day (p < 0.001) and with playing computer/video/mobile games (p < 0.001). An inverse association with outdoor activities/playing was observed with children playing > 2 hours in a day.ConclusionMyopia is a major health problem in Indian school children. It is important to identify modifiable risk factors associated with its development and try to develop cost effective intervention strategies.
Highlights
Myopia is a very common cause of visual impairment throughout the world [1,2]
There was a positive association of myopia with studying in private schools vs. government schools (p
It is important to identify modifiable risk factors associated with its development and try to develop cost effective intervention strategies
Summary
Myopia is a very common cause of visual impairment throughout the world [1,2]. While there are no large scale studies in India for assessing the magnitude of myopia in the school going population, available studies show higher prevalence rates in urban areas compared to rural areas [17,18,19]. Besides risk of ametropic amblyopia in growing children and the inconvenience and cost of spectacles or contact lenses, 10–20% have high myopia predisposing them to severe irreversible visual impairment [22]. This study was undertaken with the aim to assess the magnitude of myopia in school going children in Delhi and identify the factors associated with it
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