Retractive erros in school children in Onithsa; Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To determine the incidence and pattern of ametropia among school children.Materials and Methods: Consecutive shcool children presenting at the Guinness Eye Center Onitsha between September 2001 and August 2002 with visual acuity of 6/9 or worse in at least one eye; complaints of visual blurring; eye strain; brow ache and or discomfort while reading were recruited into the study. Cycloplegic refraction on each child was performed using 0.5tropicamide eye-drops. Post-cycloplegic tests were performed within 72 hours.Results: Of the 306 children (MF - 12) examined; 301 (98.4) had ametropia. Spherical errors were namely; hyperopia 23 (7.5); myopia 47 (15.4). Astigmatism occurred in 231 (75.5) namely hyperopic astigmatism 72 (31.2); myopic astigmatism 159 (68.8). Anisometropia was present in 80 (26.1) children; 16 of whom did not improve with refraction. Generally older children (12 - 17 years) were more likely to have refractive errors than younger children (95CI 0.07; 0.31; p 0.005). But there was no difference in the incidence of myopia between younger children (aged 6 - 11 years) and older children (95CI -0.08; 0.43; p 0.05). While 41 (13.4) had visual impairment in the better eye; 8 (2.6) other children had uniocular blindness at presentation.Conclusions: There is a high incidence of uncorrected refractive errors among school children; although many were of small degrees. The cooperation of parents and teachers is vital in identifying and treating this modifiable cause of poor academic performance and learning difficulties