Refractive Error among Male Primary School Students in Jazan, Saudi Arabia: Prevalence and Associated Factors

Abstract

Background:Refractive error is a common and serious eye disorder that affects more than 153 million people globally. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and pattern of refractive error among male primary school children in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among a randomly selected group of 395 students (aged 6-14 years) in Jazan region, Southwest Saudi Arabia. An optometrist and medical students assessed the refraction error using an autorefractor, a Snellen E chart and retinoscopy.Results:The overall prevalence of uncorrected refractive error in either eye was, 22% higher among rural students. The most prevalent refractive error was hyperopia (32.2%) followed by myopic astigmatism (31%) then myopia (17.2%). Next were hyperopic astigmatism (16.1%) and mixed astigmatism (3.5%). The following variables were associated with a higher risk of refractive errors and myopia: living in rural areas, having parents with refractive errors, spending more time on electronic devices and shorter visual distances.Conclusion:Refractive error was highly prevalent among primary school children in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. The rural students were more affected by refractive errors, mainly hyperopia. The preschool vision test should be reconsidered, and a periodic vision examination should be applied to detect vision problems as early as possible.

Prevalence and associated factors of myopia among school children in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019

“…The study participants who had 2–4 and >4 hours per day mobile exposure were 3.69, 11.6 times more to develop myopia as compared to those who had < 2 hours per day exposure respectively. This finding is consistent with studies done in India [ 14 , 25 ], Saudi Arabia [ 28 ], and Debere Markose, Ethiopia [ 23 ].…”

“…Some studies from the above define myopia without spherical equivalent and also they used a cut-off point of > -1.00 Diopter whereas the present studies used a cut-off point of > -0.50 Diopter. On the contrary, the result of this study is slightly lower as compared to studies done in Gondar, Ethiopia (11.9%) [2] and much lower than the studies conducted in America (41.5%) PLOS ONE [7], Israeli (28.3%) [24], Taiwan (21%) [4], Beijing China (80.7%) [3], Hong Kong China (36.7%) [8], Delhi India (13.1%) [25], North India (21%) [14], Qingdao (22.6%) [26], Amman Jordan (17.6%) [27], and Saudi Arabia (17.2%) [28]. This difference might be because of the variation in race between the study participants and of Asian descent.…”

Prevalence of reduced visual acuity among school-aged children and adolescents in 6 districts of Changsha city: a population-based survey

“…Proportion of severely reduced VA however gets higher. This may attribute to ocular development during children's hyperopic reserve stage, and this situation is consistent with other studies that revealed the predominant uncorrected refractive errors in children aged 6-7 years being hyperopia and astigmatism [18,19].…”

Prevalence of reduced visual acuity among school-aged children and adolescents in 6 districts of Changsha city: a population-based survey

“…Proportion of severely reduced VA however gets higher. This may attribute to ocular development during children’s hyperopic reserve stage, and this situation is consistent with other studies that revealed the predominant uncorrected refractive errors in children aged 6–7 years being hyperopia and astigmatism [ 18 , 19 ]. However this was not furtherly examined in this study.…”