Abstract
Background: The aim of this study is to assess the visual and refractive status among ‘Orang Asli’ (indigenous) children in Kampung Sungai Lalang, Semenyih, Selangor. Uncorrected refractive error is a major burden among children around the world. It results in a significant number of problems among this high-risk group including educational loss, low productivity and impaired quality of life. Besides that, there are lacking information regarding vision problems among aborigine children or ‘Orang Asli’ in Malaysia. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of refractive error, and the association of the refractive error and visual acuity with age among ‘Orang Asli’ children.
 Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on ‘Orang Asli’ children (n=43) where 51.2% were male and 48.8% were female. Visual acuity and refraction assessment were done on every child using Refractive Error Study in School Children (RESC) protocol.
 Results: The prevalence of refractive error was simple myopia (1.2%), simple hyperopia (18.6%), compound myopic astigmatism (7.0%), and mixed astigmatism (73.3%) respectively. The visual acuity measurement shows that the majority of subjects achieved 6/6 represented by 88.4% of the right eye and 86% of the left eye. There is no association between refractive error and age (P>0.05).
 Conclusion: This study concludes that there is a high prevalence of hyperopia among ‘Orang Asli’ children and There is no association of refractive error with age and gender. Therefore, there is a need to create better awareness programs among the parents about the importance of eye examination to their children.
 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.19(4) 2020 p.609-613
Highlights
Studies on vision problems and refractive errors status are essential for developing national strategies for the prevention of visual impairment.[1]
There was a lack of information regarding vision problems among aborigine children or ‘Orang Asli’in Malaysia
In Ethiopia town, there was a higher incidence of refractive error in females compared to male in the age group of 10 years to 14 years old and as well as other age groups.10It is approximately similar to our findings which our study found that the degree of hyperopia was falls to the mild hyperopia
Summary
Studies on vision problems and refractive errors status are essential for developing national strategies for the prevention of visual impairment.[1] There was a lack of information regarding vision problems among aborigine children or ‘Orang Asli’in Malaysia. Uncorrected refractive error is a major burden among children around the world It results in a significant number of problems among this high-risk group including educational loss, low productivity and impaired quality of life. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of refractive error, and the association of the refractive error and visual acuity with age among ‘Orang Asli’ children. Conclusion: This study concludes that there is a high prevalence of hyperopia among ‘Orang Asli’ children and There is no association of refractive error with age and gender.
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