PREVALENCE OF REFRACTIVE ERROR IN SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN OF SUNSARI DISTRICT AND BIRATNAGAR, NEPAL

Background: Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual impairment. The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of refractive error among school-going children of Sunsari district and Biratnagar metropolitan city, Nepal. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from August 2018 to January 2020. Comprehensive eye examination was performed by an experienced optometrist and ophthalmic assistant trained in Paediatric eye care. Data was entered in software, transferred to Microsoft Excel, and analyzed by using SPSS version-20. Results: During this period a total of 186215 students were enrolled. Primary screening was done for 124993 (67%) students and Secondary screening was done for 14355(11.5%) children. The overall prevalence of refractive error was 7439 (5.9%) found mostly in male 3897 (52.4%) of 11 to 15 years of age group 4554 (61.2%) (P=0.00). The prevalence of refractive error at schools of Biratnagar was 3156 (7.9%), Dharan was 1680 (8.5%) and Itahari was 1538 (6.0%). It was mostly found in private school going children of urban areas (5.4%) (P=0.00). Myopia (53%) was the most common type of refractive error (P=0.00). Conclusions: The prevalence of refractive error was high in private school of urban area. There is a need to conduct school screening program in both urban and rural areas to rule out the refractive error and other ocular morbidities on time for better quality of life.