VISUAL SCREENING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF SAPAREVA BANYA IN SOUTHWESTERN BULGARIA

Within 3-days-program almost 200 children and 50 adults had their vision checked by an international qualified team of eye specialists in the local school in Sapareva Banya. Visual acuity, objective and subjective refraction, color perception, binocular vision, cover test, pupillary reaction and other tests were performed. Apart from the ophthalmic examination, all the patients’ parents also filled in questionnaire regarding visual strain regimen, previous eye doctor visits and other details. The aim was to promote visual health, establish and possibly treat refractive errors and amblyopia, to facilitate access to specialized medical care, optical and optometrist’s service for children’s population of remote municipalities with population under 10 000 people. The visual screening of Sapareva Banya school children was of great value because only 38% of children had been examined before. There were no major deviations, severe anisometropia and ametropia values or very low visual acuity patients not wearing optical correction. A surprisingly high incidence of color vision deficiency was found 9, 2% males and 4, 3 % females.