Background
At present there is no data available on reduced vision and refractive errors in school
children of far western Nepal. So, school screening records were used to obtain data
useful for planning of refractive services.
Methods
Data are provided from school screening conducted by Geta Eye Hospital during
February/March 2008. The cases with complete data sets on visual acuity, refractive
error and age were included and analyzed using computer software.
Results
Of 1165 children (mean age 11.6±2.5 years) examined, 98.8% (n= 1151) had uncorrected
visual acuity of 6/9 and better in at least one eye whereas 1.2% (n= 14) had acuity 6/12
and worse in both eyes. Among them, either eye of 9 children improved to 6/9 and
better with correction. However, visual acuity was 6/12 and worse in both eyes of 5
children even after correction. There were 24 children with refractive errors (myopia,
1.54%; n= 18 and hypermetropia, 0.51%; n=6) in at least one eye. The spherical
equivalent refraction was not significantly different with age and gender.
Conclusions
The incidence of reduced vision and refractive errors among school children of this
semi rural district were low.