Prevalence of refractive errors among school children in the rural field practice area of a tertiary care hospital, Bengaluru

Abstract

Background: An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired, and 12 million are visually impaired due to refractive errors. Children fall in preventable age group for correction of refractive errors. Schools are best forum for implanting health education for children and for early detection of ocular morbidity. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of refractive errors among school children in rural field practice area of Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the schools in rural field practice area of Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital School children aged between 7-16 years were examined for defective vision using Snellens chart. General information of the children was collected using pre-designed and semi- structured questionnaire a. Children with abnormal vision were referred to hospital. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics was used and chi-square test of significance was applied.Results: 1140 study subjects were examined out of which 577 (50.6%) were females and 563 (49.4%) males. The mean age was 11.28 years. The prevalence of refractive errors was 10.5%.The prevalence of refractive errors was significantly associated with age (p<0.05). The prevalence of myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism in study subjects was 58.5%, 17.1%, 24.4% respectively.Conclusions: The prevalence of refractive errors, especially myopia, was higher in older children. Causes of higher prevalence and barriers to refractive error correction services and compliance should be identified and addressed. Eye screening of school children is recommended.

Screening of refractive error among primary school students at Tanta City Gharbia governorate Egypt. How serious is the problem?

“…4 Another study in India reported myopia followed by astigmatism and lastly hyperopia (58.5%, 24.4%, and 17.1% respectively). 11 On the other hand, our finding agrees with Hashemi H (2017) finding in systematic review and meta-analysis that astigmatism was the most common refractive error in children. 12 This variation can be explained by using different methods in the evaluation of RE type.…”

“…4 Also, lower figure was reported by Vidusha KS (2018) in India, as the prevalence rate was 10.5% in a study included 1140 school children aged 7-16. 11 This difference in finding may be due to different study design, sample size and/or age of students included in the study. The present study revealed that only 35.7% of RE students wore glasses before our screening which was significantly higher in private school children 74.3% of RE students.…”

An epidemiological study on ocular morbidities among school students in an urban area of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal

“…This is much higher than studies conducted in rural Bangalore (10.5%), Goa (18.0%), Mangalore (14.2%) and Shimla (31.6%). 3,[7][8][9] In another study on ocular morbidity and its associates among Madrasah students of Kolkata, the overall prevalence of ocular morbidity was 12.67% with refractive error being the commonest (9.40%). 10 These differences may be attributed to the difference in sample size, wider age groups covered and setting of these studies as compared with our study.…”

Prevalence Of Refractive Errors In School Going Children In Rural And Urban Areas -A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In a study by Khandekar et al, boys had the higher uncorrected refractive error, although gender was not significantly associated with uncorrected refractive error in urban and rural children. [11] In contrast, studies by Vidusha KSS et al [15] Prema N et al…”

“…Similarly, many studies reported an increase in the prevalence of refractive error with increasing age. [13,14,15] In contrast, Khandekar et al…”