Prevalence of Myopia in Preschool and School Children in the Municipality of Prishtina in Kosovo

Abstract

Introduction: Myopia is the refractive anomaly of the eye in which the conjugate focus of the retina is at some finite point in front of the eye, when the eye is not accommodating. Myopia is else known as short-sightedness and is considered as one of the most frequent causes of reduced vision especially in adolescents. Adolescence is one of the life periods when most cases are diagnosed with myopia. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify myopia in pre-school and school children (3 -9 years old in Prishtina), to determine the prevalence of myopia among other refractive anomalies in cases included in the study; compare the prevalence of myopia in this population in Prishtina to other countries in the world; determine the effect of hereditary and socio-economic factors on the prevalence of myopia; and determine the degrees of myopia in our cases included in our study. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 1027 pre-school children and pupils from 4 schools in Prishtina, aged 3 -9 years old, who were screened for refractive anomalies, with a special focus on the incidence of myopia in this age group. The data were collected by screening children in the institutions of pre-school and primary school education, including 2 primary schools and two kindergarten during a two-year period 2010-2012 in Prishtina. Results: On the screening of pre-school and school children for refractive anomalies, were included 1027 subjects of ages 3 -9 years old. Of the 1027 children screened 536 (52.2%) were male and 491 (47.8%) were female. Statistically, the prevalence of refractive anomalies in the total population studied is significant based on the resulting value (P < 0.0001). In general, the prevalence of refractive anomalies in this study results in 164/103 with an interval of 141/103 in 186/103 for 95% CI.

Parents' intentions toward preschool children's myopia preventive behaviors: Combining the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior

“…Myopia is a growing public health concern, especially in Asian countries due to its high prevalence ( 1 ). A recent study showed that the prevalence of myopia in 4-year-old, 5-year-old, and 6-year-old children in China was 5.7, 5.8, and 7.1%, respectively ( 2 ), higher than the finding from Australia (1.4%) ( 3 ) and Kosovo (3.4%) ( 4 ). Most importantly, previous studies have shown that the earlier the onset of myopia, the more likely it is to progress into more severe myopia and even lead to irreversible loss of vision ( 5 , 6 ).…”

Prevalence of Refractive Errors in the Total Population and the Analysis of Myopic Progression in Adults Aged 20 to 39 in the Urban Area of Tirana, Albania

“…European Eye Epidemiology (E3) Consortium meta-analyzed data from European adult population studies and indicated a prevalence of 23.9% for astigmatism, 30.6% for myopia and 25.2% for hyperopia and one cohort with Greek participants over the age of 60 were included [4]. A recent study reports data on the prevalence of myopia in 1027 children in the Municipality of Prishtina in Kosovo [35]. Two other scientific publications on the region were found: the prevalence of myopia was analyzed from 1738 questionnaires covering the North Greek high school student population and a controlled study involved 200 conscripts in Greek compulsory national service [36] [37].…”