Refractive Error and Correction of Second-year Elementary School Students in Keongsan-si, Gyeongbuk

Abstract

Purpose : To compare and analyze the refractive and correction states of second-year elementary school students in and around Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongbuk Methods : As the 2nd project of 'Making Bright and Clear Eyes' sponsored by Gyeongsan Office of Education supporting the 1st project in 2015, second-year 1,662 people(3,324 eyes) of 27 of 31 elementary schools in Gyeongsan area participated to go through examination of their refractive and wearing glasses conditions. Refractive errors were compared and analyzed based on equivalent spherical equivalent power, divided into urban and rural areas. Results : It was shown that 207 eyes(6.23%) were emmetropic and 3,117 eyes(93.77%) were ametropic(-1.01±1.32 D on average) in 1,662 elementary school children, and of ametropes 2,693 eyes were myopic(–1.27±1.19 D on average) and 424 eyes(0.62±0.79 D on average), showing 81.02% and 12.75%, respectively. Of these, 454 eyes(27.31%) were wearing glasses, and 655 eyes (19.70%) had a visual acuity of less than 0.7 and needed correction. In the regional comparisons, the refractive errors of urban and rural elementary school students were –1.01± 1.35 D and –0.87± 1.23 D, respectively (p<0.010, t=-3.06). In the comparison of myopic students, urban students had -1.32±1.23 D and rural areas had –1.20±1.14 D(p<0.010, t=2.74), but there is no difference in hyperopic students. In the rate of wearing glasses, 5.78% of urban elementary school students wore more glasses than rural students(p=0.001). Conclusion : In this study, which was conducted only in the lower grade, an important period for the change of refractive error, myopia was the main cause of refractive error regardless of urban and rural region, and in future continuous research and countermea