Cost-effectiveness of audiometric screening of first-year preparatory pupils in Dhofar region, Oman

Audiometric screening was conducted in Dhofar region to study the magnitude of ear problems and cost-effectiveness of screening first-year preparatory-school children in Oman. None of the 1894 pupils had otitis media with effusion or sensory neuronal hearing loss. Six children [0.32%] had impacted wax, 4 [0.21%] chronic suppurative otitis media and 2 [0.11%] dry perforation of eardrum. In all, 14 children [0.74%] with suspected hearing impairment were referred to a specialist but only 2 attended. Physicians and nurses spent 8-10 minutes for ear examination per child for a yield of less than 1%. The screening expenditure was US$ 5 per pupil. As the prevalence of serious ear conditions was low, we conclude that exp and ing the audiometric screening of schoolchildren to first-year preparatory pupils is not cost-effective

Validity of vision screening by school nurses in seven regions of Oman

We tested the validity of vision screening in schools in 7 regions of Oman in 2003.Two researchers tested 1719 randomly selected students in 4 school grades using the Snellen E acuity test. Trained school nurses had previously screened 182 233 students. The visual status recorded in the 2 screenings was compared. Sensitivity of screening by nurses was 68.34% [95% CI: 67.30-69.38] and specificity 99.23% [95% CI: 99.19-99.27]. The positive predictive value was 85.42% [95% CI: 84.63-86.21] and negative predictive value was 97.93% [95% CI: 97.87-98.00].The sensitivity of the vision test was significantly higher in females, older students and in North Sharqiya region. In general, the vision screening of school students in Oman has satisfactory validity. Periodic training of nurses and supervision of the screening procedures could improve its sensitivity. Underlying causes of the high numbers of false negative cases should be further investigated