Statistical Study on Visually Handicapped Children

ABSTRACT

A statistical study on visually handicapped children was performed by The Committee on Health of Korean Pediatric Association from July to October, 1978. 3,930 boys and girls in middle school children(3rd grade; around 15 years of age) were studied and the results were obtained as follows; 1, 788 out of 3,930 children(20.1%) were visually handicapped. There were no sex preponderance. 2. Annual incidence of visual handicap was 2.2% of all children studied. 3. There were no specific age preferance for handicapping and annual incidence of visual retardations among the handicapped children was 13.7%(10~19%). 4. Children wearing corrective glasses were 62.8% of all handicapped children and 69.8% of them were began to wear the glasses after entrance of middle school. 5. Nearly all of the handicapped children were suffered from symptoms related with visual defect and the most common difficulty was learning problems(67.5%). Headache(6.7%) and dizziness(5.5%) were another difficulties. 6. 92.5% of children wearing glasses were improved their symptoms related with poor visions but 79.8% of children wearing glasses were suffered form discomfortness by glasses itself. 7. The reasons wearing no glasses among the visual handicaps were advices by parents and friends due to bad effects of glasses on beauty(321.%), hesitation(30.7%) and shyness(13.3%). 8. High famillial incidence of visual handicaps were noted in visually handicapped children than with normal vision. 9. There were no difference between the children with defective vision and normal children on number of television sets at home, places of telvision set ups(children's room or parent?sroom), hours watching televison per day, presence or absence of children's study rooms and reading postures. 10. Habits of watching television or reading books from too short distance, improper illumination when they read the books at home were much more freqently observed in children with visual handicap than children with no defect.