ASSESSMENT OF REFRACTIVE ERRORS IN SCHOOL GIRLS IN A RURAL SETTING

Abstract

Background: Among children, undiagnosed refractive error is the second most common cause of curable blindness and the major cause of visual disability these days. Children often do not complain of visual problems and may not even be aware of their symptoms. Ophthalmic screening programs in school children are not only essential but are also valuable School screening programs assist in early detection of amblyopia and its risk factors such as strabismus, refractive errors and media opacities

Methods: A total of 155 schoolgirls between ages 5 to 18 years were included in the screening process at a Government Higher Secondary School in April 2019. The students were asked to fill in a self-devised questionnaire for a superficial ocular assessment. Next, visual acuity was measured with Snellen distant vision chart. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 23. Data was checked for normality of distribution by Shapiro-Wilk test. Frequency and percentages of refractive errors were determined. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The frequency of girls having right eye error was more than those having it in left eye and the percentage of girls having failed visual acuity in either eye i.e VA<6/12 was 17.4%. Pearson Chi Squared test was applied to determine any relationship between categorical variables and it showed significance between reading from books, threading the needle 0.000 and parents wearing glasses. (p-value<0.05).

Conclusion: Awareness about causes of refractive errors must be prioritized. Annual screening should be made mandatory in schools of both urban as well as rural setting, health education programs, walks, seminars should be conducted in order to create awareness amongst the general masses, and last but not the least smartphone usage hours should be restricted in children in order to prevent them from the deleterious effects of this gadget.