Background: The present study is ¿ rst of its kind to evaluate causes of visual impairment of blind students in Nepal and assess their need for low vision rehabilitation services. Aim: To evaluate causes of vision impairment of students enrolled in blind schools in Nepal and assess the need for low vision rehabilitation services in these students. Materials and methods: A survey was conducted in 12 blind schools in Nepal, which were registered with Nepal Association for Welfare of Blindness (NAWB).It was conducted by a team of an ophthalmologist and an optometrist, by using standard eye examination protocols of the World Health Organization Prevention of Blindness Program (WHO/ PBL). Results: Of the 345 students enrolled in 12 schools, 285 students were examined (response rate of 82.61%). The students were in the 5 -29 years age group. Nearly three-fourth of the children had become blind within one year of age and 52.3% visually impaired at birth and 20.7% developed vision impairment within one year of age. After refraction, 26 students (9.12%) had mild visual impairment, 21 students (7.37%) had severe visual impairment and 238 students (83.51%) were blind. The main cause of vision impairment was found to be corneal 35.79% and retina diseases, mainly dystrophy, 20.35% followed by problems with the whole globe, lens and optic nerve, accounting for 13.33%, 12.63% and 12.98% respectively. The major etiological factors were those of childhood such as Vitamin A de¿ ciency, measles and similar causes (42.11%) followed by hereditary causes (25.26%). Of the total students examined, 48.07% were visually impaired due to preventable causes and 16.14% treatable aggregating to 64.21% of avoidable blindness. Fifty seven (28.22%) students could read smaller than 2 M print size after low vision assessment for near and 33(15.78%) students bene¿ ted with telescopic trial for distance low vision. Conclusion: In Nepal, renewed focus on providing best possible quality of life for visually impaired children by proper low vision assessment and eye health education focusing on, general public and community health workers, with governmental and institutional support is required to achieve Vision 2020 objectives to decrease childhood blindness.

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INTRODUCTION: Refractive error remains one of the primary causes of visual impairment in children worldwide. This study describes pattern of refractive errors among primary school students in Rupandehi district, Nepal.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Records of 128 children with refractive error aged 5-15 years from both urban and rural areas in Nepal between January and March 2011 were examined for patterns in the distribution of refractive errors. SPSS statistical software was used to perform analysis.RESULTS: The commonest type of refractive errors among the children was astigmatism (47%) followed by myopia (26%) and hyperopia (19%). Children in the age group 11-15 years had higher number of eyes with refractive error as compared to their younger counterparts 5 years /or below 5 years (49% vs. 9%). 71% students were from schools located in rural areas. Among the children with refractive errors, only 44.5% students were wearing glasses. 57% of the students studying in private schools were wearing glasses but only 26.9% students from the government school were wearing glasses.CONCLUSION: A wide variation in the distribution of refractive errors between the geographic locations, gender basis, types of schools as well as between the different ethnic groups was observed.Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences Vol. 3, No. 1, 2015: 31-36

Background: Albinism is commonly associated with high refractive errors, but some clinicians are reluctant to prescribe glasses because reduced vision persists due to additional non-refractive visual problems.Aims and Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of glasses in people with oculocutaneous albinism in Nepal.Materials and Methods: People with Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) were prospectively examined through an outreach program of Lumbini Eye Institute, Nepal. Glasses were prescribed to determine the objective improvement in visual acuity (VA) and strabismus. Compliance with spectacles wear was assessed by telephone contact after 3 weeks and categorized as excellent: >75% of awake hours; good: 50–75% of awake hours; fair: 26–50% of awake hours and poor: <25%.Results: Thirty one people (65% male) mean age 18 years (range: 3 to 50) with OCA were examined. Mean refractive correction was –0.40±4.3 diopters spherical equivalents (range: −11.0 to +7.0 D). Mean visual acuity at distance was 0.9±0.28(6/50) corrected and 1.150.31(5/60) uncorrected (P = 0.000) in 62 eyes. Mean neat VA was1.74±0.89M corrected and 2.06±1.20M uncorrected (P = 0.004). Forty eight per cent (15 people) had fusion with or without glasses and one had fusion only with glasses. Compliance was excellent in 52% (16), fair in 26% (8), good in 12% (4), and poor in 10% (3).Conclusion: Providing eye glasses resulted in a clinically and functionally significant improvement in visual acuity and function in people with OCA.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(6) 2017 30-34