Magnitude of Refractive Errors among school children in a rural block of Haryana

Objectives: To study the prevalence of Refractive Errors in school children (6-15 years) and their association with age and sex. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Govt. Senior Secondary Schools of Block Lakhanmajra. Participants: 1265 school children (6-15 years). Methodology: Out of 16 Govt. Senior Secondary Schools, 4 were randomly chosen. Students aged 6-15 years studying in class 1 to 10 were included in the study. Visual Acuity (VA) test was performed using Snellen's E chart. The finding of clinical examination was recorded on a pretested Performa and were analysed. Statistical Analysis: percentages, Chisquare test and Fisher's exact test. Result: Out of 1265, 172 children (13.6 %) were found to have defective vision ("d6/9). Myopia affected only one eye in 22(1.74%) students while both eyes were affected in 131(10.36%) students. Hyperopia affected one eye only in 2(0.16%) students while in 17(1.34%) students both eyes were affected. The prevalence of myopia, hyperopia & astigmatism was more in girls (23.7%) as compared to boys (12.2%). The prevalence of myopia & astigmatism was more in higher age groups and the prevalence of hyperopia was more in lower age groups. Conclusion: Refractive errors can have a long term impact on the learning abilities of school children and visual screening by trained teachers can play an important role in early detection and prevention of further complications.