Refractive Errors in School Going Children - Data from A School Screening Survey Programme

• Main Authors: Harpal Singh (Author), V K Saini (Author), Akhilesh Yadav (Author), Bharti Soni (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Medsci Publications, 2013-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0976-3325; 2229-6816
• Keywords: Refractive error; amblyopia; myopia; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: National Journal of Community Medicine, Vol 4, Iss 01 (2013)

Background: The prevalence of blindness in children ranges from approximately 0.3/1000 children in affluent regions to 1.5/1000 in the poorest communities. the importance of early detection and treatment of ocular diseases and visual impairment in young is obvious. Aim and objective - The basic aim of this study was to assess the status of refractive errors in school going children through school screening program. Method: the study was done on students aged 05 years to 15 years, selected randomly from rural and urban schools in and around the periphery of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Result: A total of 18,500 children were screened, Out of them 10730 were boys (58.00%) and rest 7770 (42.00%) were girls. Ocular morbidity (refractory errors) was found in 2422(13.09%) children out of which 1059 (5.72%) were boys and 1363(7.36%) were girls. Of these there were a total of 1,313 myopes ; 740 hypermetropes ; 277 with astigmatism and 92 amblyopic children. Conclusion: school screening program is an effective way to detect the causes of visual impairment in school children.