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Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objectives The aims of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of undetected refractive errors among primary school students in Menoufia governorate and to assess possible risk factors such as family history, prolonged near work, etc. Background Early detection of refractive errors in children provides the best opportunity for effective treatment, whereas failure to detect such problems early can have permanent, deleterious effects on long-term visual outcomes, educational achievement, and self-esteem. Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional analytical study that was carried out from the beginning of January 2015 to the end of January 2016 in children between the ages of 6 and 15 years (mean age: 8.39 ± 1.85 years). After obtaining consent from parents and the school authority, students underwent manifest refraction, vision, best-corrected visual acuity, ocular motility, and cycloplegic refraction tests. Results This study was conducted on 276 students (48.6% of males and 51.4% of females); 83 of them had an occult refractive error, with an estimated incidence of 30.1%. Among the studied group, 37.3% had a family history of using glasses. In addition, 28.6% of the studied group had a history of headache. The most common type of refractive errors was astigmatism (45.8%), myopia (40.4%), and hypermetropia (13.9%) among the studied group. Conclusion The present study concluded that uncorrected refractive error is a common cause of visual impairment among schoolchildren in Menoufia governorate. Therefore, it is recommended that the education authority, together with the health authority, should provide appropriate measures to make eye examination for students in Egypt compulsory.

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