Visual Impairment among Primary School Children in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia

Ferede, Ayanaw Tsega; Alemu, Destaye Shiferaw; Gudeta, Alemayehu Desalegn; Alemu, Haile Woretaw; Melese, Mulusew Asferaw

doi:10.1155/2020/6934013

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In the current meta-analysis, a total of 96 101 participants were included to estimate the pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia. The studies were conducted in the different parts of Ethiopia: Nationwide,7 36 Oromia Region,51 Amhara Region,16 48 49 52–60 Tigray Region,61 Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples Region (SNNPR),62–66 Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz Regions,50 Addis Ababa City Administration8 67 68 and unspecified (ie, area) school-based study 47. All of the studies were published.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2022

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Blindness is defined as presenting visual acuity worse than 3/60 in the better eye. Its highest proportion has been conforming to the developing countries such as Ethiopia. So, timely information is crucial to design strategies. However, the study on the magnitude of blindness in Ethiopia was outdated which means it was conducted in 2005–2006. Therefore, this study was proposed to estimate the pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia.Databases like PubMed, Cochrane library, Google Scholar and references of retrieved articles were used to search for articles. A standard data extraction approach was employed and presented using Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Analysis held using STATA V.11. The funnel plot and Egger’s regression test were applied to check for the potential sources of bias. Heterogeneity among the studies was tested using I² statistics that have been calculated and compared with the standard. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis were done to identify the potential sources of heterogeneity. Estimation of blindness was carried out using Duval and Twee die’s trim and fill analysis. The pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia is found to be 1.18% (95% CI 0.650% to 1.706%). Blindness is among the main public health difficulties in Ethiopia. So, it demands up-to-date strategies and its implementation, preventive and curative eye care service with affordable and accessible interventions, and evidence-based advocacy. The trial Registration Number is CRD42021268448.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2022

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“…The most recent study among schoolchildren ages 5–15 y in Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia, reported unilateral prevalence of vision impairment at a PVA <6/18 was 3.7%, while an earlier study from Addis Ababa reported unilateral prevalence of 1.1% at a PVA <6/18 and 5.8% at a PVA <6/12. 35 In southern Nigeria, the prevalence of vision impairment among schoolchildren ages 6–17 y at a PVA <6/12 was 7.3%. 36 The majority of vision impairment in all studies was due to UREs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the prevalence of refractive errors and accuracy of vision screening by schoolteachers in Liberia

Tobi

Ibrahim²,

Bedell³

et al. 2022

International Health

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Background Evidence indicates that school-based vision screening by trained teachers is an effective way of identifying and addressing potential vision problems in schoolchildren. However, inconsistencies have been reported in both the testing methods and accuracy of the screeners. This study assessed the prevalence of refractive errors and accuracy of screening by teachers in Grand Kru County, Liberia. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from four schools where, in February 2019, children were screened for refractive errors by trained teachers and then re-examined by ophthalmic technicians. One row of five optotypes of the Snellen 6/9 (0.2 logMar) scale (tumbling E chart) was used at a distance of 3 m. The prevalence of visual impairment and associations with sex, age and school were explored. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated. Results Data were available for 823 of 1095 eligible children with a mean age of 13.7 y (range 5–18) and male:female ratio of 1:0.8. Poor vision was identified in 24 (2.9%) children with no differences by either sex or age but small differences by school. Screening by teachers had a sensitivity of 0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.077 to 0.423) and a specificity of 0.996 (95% CI 0.992 to 1.000). Positive and negative predictive values were 0.667 (95% CI 0.359 to 0.975) and 0.978 (95% CI 0.968 to 0.988), respectively. The results were influenced by a high number of misclassifications in one of the four schools. Conclusions Teachers can be trained to conduct vision screening tests on schoolchildren to an acceptable level of accuracy, but strong monitoring and quality assurance systems should be built into screening programmes from the onset. In settings like Liberia, where many children do not attend school regularly, screening programmes should extend to community platforms to reach children out of school.

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“…According to a recent international assessment on vision, at least 2.2 billion individuals worldwide have a vision impairment or blindness, with at least 1 billion of them having a visual impairment that could have been prevented or recognized but not handled [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can manifest as reduced visual acuity or contrast sensitivity, visual field loss, photophobia, diplopia, visual distortion, visual perceptual difficulties, or any combination of the above. Vision impairment ranges in severity from mild visual loss to total absence of light perception or blindness [ 2 – 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of visual impairment and associated factors among children in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2022

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Introduction Visual impairment is a major public health problem in developing countries where there is no enough health-care service. It has a significant impact on the affected child’s psychological, educational and socioeconomic experiences, during childhood and beyond. Therefore, the aim of this review was to estimate the pooled prevalence of visual impairment and its associated factors among children in Ethiopia. Method This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed based on the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant published articles in Ethiopia from 2011–2021 were searched in PubMed/Medline, HINARI, Google scholar, and conference paper and thesis or research final reports were accessed from Ethiopian Universities’ repositories. Data was extracted in Microsoft excel by using JBI data extraction checklist. The pooled prevalence and odds ratio of associated factors with their 95% CI was computed by using STATA 14/SE software. A fixed effect meta-analysis model was employed for a Cochrane Q test statistic and I2 test showed there was no heterogeneity in the included studies. Result A total of 7,647 children from nine studies were included in this study. The overall prevalence of visual impairment among children in Ethiopia was 7% (95% CI: 6, 7%). The pooled prevalence of visual impairment by region was almost similar in Ethiopia. However, there was no significant association between the identified factors and visual impairment among children. But the result showed that being males (AOR 0.642, 95% CI: 0.357–1.156), Children in the age of 10–13 years (AOR 0.224, 95% CI: 0.046–1.102) and 14–18 years (AOR 0.508, 95% CI: 0.102–2.534) were found to be less likely to have visual impairment. On the other hand, children of parents with visual impairment (AOR 1.820, 95% CI: 0.381–8.698) more likely to have visual impairment. Conclusion Visual impairment among children in Ethiopia is still a public health problem one year later to VISION 2020, a global initiative aimed to eliminate avoidable blindness. All most one out of fourteen children in Ethiopia had visual impairment. Therefore, the government of Ethiopia should focus on effective, efficient, comprehensive eye health care services by integrating with the national health system to prevent avoidable visual impairment among children.

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Visual Impairment among Primary School Children in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia

Cited by 13 publications

References 27 publications

Pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Pooled prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Assessing the prevalence of refractive errors and accuracy of vision screening by schoolteachers in Liberia

Prevalence of visual impairment and associated factors among children in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

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