Abstract
Background:Good visual acuity is important for children’s learning but the actual visual acuity (VA) demands of classrooms are not well defined.Methods:In total, 61 classrooms from eight primary schools were included in this study. Classrooms were divided into lower and upper primary which reflect different stages of learning. Three types of national schools were included in the study, which were National, National Types Chinese (C) and Tamil (T). Each type of school utilizes different language as the medium of teaching. The measurements conducted in each classroom were: dimensions, maximum distance a student is seated and vertical height of the distance and near target. Near working distance of 28cm was assumed. Distance and near visual acuity demands (VA) were then calculated.Results:The distance and near VA demands were 0.11 ± 0.26 logMAR and 0.24 ± 0.10 logMAR for lower primary, and 0.09 ± 0.20 logMAR and 0.24 ± 0.09 logMAR for upper primary classrooms respectively. Distance and near VA demands between both stages were not significantly different (p>0.05). The distance and near VA demands for National schools were 0.24 ± 0.17 logMAR and 0.31 ± 0.04 logMAR, National Type (C) were 0.16 ± 0.11 logMAR and 0.13 ± 0.03 logMAR, National Type (T) were 0.09 ± 0.10 logMAR and 0.12 ± 0.03 logMAR respectively. There were significant differences for both distance and near VA demands between types of schools, F(2, 58) 42.19, p = 0.00; F (2, 58) 208.35, p = 0.00 respectively.Conclusions:High levels of visual acuity for distance and near are required to meet the demands of modern classroom environments. Both National Types schools require higher VA demand compared to National schools. These findings suggest current vision screening protocols and cut off points for schools might require revision.
Highlights
The introduction covers relevant topics related to the study, but there are more citations that could be added in the first sentence “Good vision has always been integral to proper education development in children” (e.g. Quaid et al, 20131; Kulp et al, 20162, Basch et al 20113)) “This could possibly lead to other visual issues being overlooked, such as hyperopia.” Is supported (e.g. Falkenberg et al, 20194, Mayro, et al 20185).It is not evident the authors have performed a proper literature search, “A literature search found ... ”as they do not mention any details of such a search, I suggest re-writing to we have only identified 3 studies
The mean, standard deviation (SD) and range for the classroom dimensions, furthest table away from the whiteboard, smallest distant and near material size, distance and near visual acuity (VA) demands for all the classrooms are presented in Table 2
National Type (C) and National Type (T) schools had significantly higher VA demands compared to National schools
Summary
The introduction covers relevant topics related to the study, but there are more citations that could be added in the first sentence “Good vision has always been integral to proper education development in children” (e.g. Quaid et al, 20131; Kulp et al, 20162, Basch et al 20113)) “This could possibly lead to other visual issues being overlooked, such as hyperopia.” Is supported (e.g. Falkenberg et al, 20194, Mayro, et al 20185).It is not evident the authors have performed a proper literature search, “A literature search found ... ”as they do not mention any details of such a search (search words and combintations, databases...), I suggest re-writing to we have only identified 3 studies. Classrooms were divided into lower and upper primary which reflect different stages of learning. The distance and near VA demands for National schools were 0.24 ± 0.17 logMAR and 0.31 ± 0.04 logMAR, National Type (C) were 0.16 ± 0.11 logMAR and 0.13 ± 0.03 logMAR, National Type (T) were 0.09 ± 0.10 logMAR and 0.12 ± 0.03 logMAR respectively. There were significant differences for both distance and near VA demands between types of schools, F(2, 58) 42.19, p = 0.00; F [2, 58] 208.35, p = 0.00 respectively. Conclusions: High levels of visual acuity for distance and near are required to meet the demands of modern classroom environments. Both National Types schools require higher VA demand compared to National schools. These findings suggest current vision screening protocols and cut off points for schools might require revision
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