ABSTRACT
Background: The epidemiological study of vision problems is important for developing national strategies for the prevention of visual impairment. There was a lack of information regarding vision problems among school children in East Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to compare the refractive errors and degrees of visual impairment between Native Iban and Malay school children who participated in a formal government vision loss prevention programme conducted in a rural area of Betong Division, Malaysia. Methods: In total, 293 Native Iban and Malay school children (Standard 1, Standard 6, and Form 3) received refractive assessments by an optometrist after failing tests in the formal government school vision screening programme in 2008. A criterion for referral was a visual acuity of 6/9 or worse in either eye. Assessments of the refractive errors of the children were performed using dry retinoscopy and subjective refraction techniques at community clinics. Results: The overall prevalences of refractive error and visual impairment among the sampled populations were 47.7% and 3.5%, respectively. Approximately 97.1% of reported cases were myopia. The Malay sample population was found to be more myopic than the Native Iban population (U = 8240.50, P 0.05). Both Native Iban and Malay children in education levels higher than Standard 1 were more likely to have myopia (P 0.05). Approximately 94.1% of children with refractive errors suffered from having either the wrong prescription (7.8%) or having uncorrected refractive errors (92.2%). Conclusion: The Native Iban population was found to be less myopic than the Malay population despite having a similar frequency of myopia. The proportion of children with myopia increased with the level of education in both ethnicities. A high percentage of untreated refractive error problems among Native Iban and Malay children in the Betong Division indicates that there is a need for government intervention for the purpose of economic and healthcare improvements.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We examined the several refractive errors and measured the axial length of child patients who visited Fatima Hospital and then assessed the distribution of refractive error and axial length. We also compared the patients' life-styles with refractive error and axial length. METHODS: We examined automated refraction, manifest refraction, 1% Cyclogyl refraction, 1% atropine refraction and axial length with an A-scan in patients between 5 and 15 years old. We asked their parents to provide information about the life-style of the patients using a questionnaire. RESULTS: The difference between manifest refraction and 1% Cyclogyl refraction was significant in patients under 9 years of age, but not significant in patients over 10 years of age. We found that the greater degree of myopia the patient had, the longer the total length and vitreous length. Patients who played outdoors for less than 2 hours per day, read more than 2 books per week and had 1 or more parent with myopia, had greater degrees of myopia. CONCLUSIONS: We found that 1% Cyclogyl refraction with manifest refraction is necessary for refraction examination in children, and the degree of myopia is closely related with an indoor life-style, the amount of reading books and the parents myopia.