Ocular Morbidity among Children Attending Government and Private Schools of Kathmandu Valley

Abstract

Introduction: Children from the developing world are more prone to going blind from avoidable and preventable causes. In Nepal, children in private schools are reported to have a higher ocular morbidity than those in government schools, with myopia being the major cause of the morbidity. This study was designed to evaluate ocular morbidity in students from both types of school.
 Methods: This was a cross-sectional, comparative study among students from government and private schools of Kathmandu. Eye examination was carried out evaluating visual acuity, color vision, refractive status, binocular vision status, and anterior and posterior segment findings.
 Results: A total of 4,228 students from government and private schools were evaluated. The prevalence of ocular morbidity was 19.56 % with refractive error (11.9 %) being the major cause of the morbidity, followed by strabismus and infective disorders. No signifi cant difference in the prevalence of ocular morbidity and refractive status was found in the students from government and private schools.
 Conclusions: A signifi cant number of children of school-going age have ocular morbidity with no signifi cant difference in the prevalence in the students from government and private schools. Research exploring the effect of various risk factors in the progression of myopia would be helpful to investigate the refractive status in children from these different types of schools.
 Keywords: Myopia, ocular morbidity, school Students

Prevalence of ocular morbidity in school going children in West Uttar Pradesh

“…International studies conducted by Shrestha et al . [1723] reported a similar prevalence of refractive error in their 2006 study (21.9%) and as well as their 2011 study (11.9%) in Nepal. Lu et al .…”

Ocular Morbidity among Street Children in Kathmandu Valley

“…Refractive error was reported to be significantly higher in mentally retarded children in the Kathmandu Valley (67.9%) 7 and in school children in Shimla, India (22%) 23 and in the Kathmandu Valley (21.9%). 8 Low prevalence of refractive error was reported in urban slums nonschooled children in Ahmedabad city, India (3.3%). 19 Different diagnostic criteria used in different studies, ethnic variation, living conditions and demands of near work might induce different prevalence rates.…”

“…Ocular morbidity in children has been found to range from 9.8% to 33.7% in different studies. 8,9,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Ocular morbidity was significantly more common in older children over 15 years of age (Table 5). Only a minority of these children (11.6%) had received an eye check-up at free eye-screening camps.…”

Visual defects in Nepalese children with Down syndrome

“…The prevalence of refractive error in children globally is found to be between 12.8 and 15.8 per cent 22–24 . In Nepal, the prevalence of refractive error in normally developing children of school age is three to 22 per cent, with the most common refractive error being myopia 25–26 …”

“…[22][23][24] In Nepal, the prevalence of refractive error in normally developing children of school age is three to 22 per cent, with the most common refractive error being myopia. [25][26] The prevalence of refractive error in children with DS is much higher than in normally developing children. In addition, strabismus, reduced accommodation and nystagmus are common findings in children with DS.…”