A Prevalence Study on Myopia Among School Going Children in a Rural Area of South India.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Myopia or short sightedness is a type of refractive error in which parallel rays coming from infinity are focused in front of retina when accommodation is at rest. It is a vision condition in which close objects are seen clearly, but objects farther away appear blurred. Myopia occurs if the eyeball is too long or cornea has too much curvature. Myopia is a common vision condition affecting nearly 30% of population. It occur more frequently among school children aged between 8 and 12 years. Because the eye continues to grow during childhood, it typically progresses until about age 20. Aims and objectives: This study aimed at finding the prevalence of myopia among the students aged 10-12 years of a school in a rural area of Kollam and the influence of environmental factors, indoor activities like reading, computer games and outdoor activities and genetic factors in development of myopia. Materials and methods: Study population included students of a nearby school. Students of age >10 years were considered, so students of 5th, 6th and 7th standard students were selected. Each of the division was considered as one strata and simple random sample of clusters had been selected from each standard. All the students of the selected division were selected to sample. Thus, a total of 68 students from that school were taken for the study. The study setting was in a rural area in Kollam district of Kerala. Results: Snellen’s chart along with unilateral vision blinders were used for evaluating vision. Details of factors influencing were obtained using a pretested questionnaire in a pilot study. The prevalence of myopia in school children of rural community in Kollam was found to be 51.47% in which a group of hidden myopic of 43.1% were discovered.