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Prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors among schoolchildren In northeast of Iran
Author(s) -
YEKTA AA,
KHABAZKHOOB M,
AZIZI E,
OSTADI MOGHADDAM H,
HERAVIAN J,
AZIMI A,
YEKTA R
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.466.x
Subject(s) - cycloplegia , astigmatism , refractive error , dioptre , medicine , confidence interval , visual acuity , optometry , cluster sampling , ophthalmology , demography , physics , population , optics , environmental health , sociology
Purpose To determine the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors (UCREs) among schoolchildren In northeast of Iran. Methods In a cross sectional study using random cluster sampling, 2020 schoolchildren 6 to 1 years of age were selected. The participants totaled 1551 (response rate=76.7%), 643 boys and 908 girls of elementary and junior high school students from the schools of northeast of Iran. Refractive errors were measured under cycloplegia. Myopia was defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) of ‐ 0.5 dioptre (D) or worse, hyperopia as a SE of +2.0 D. or more, and astigmatism as cylinder equal to or worse than ‐0.75 D. UCRE was defined as a minimum of 2 lines improvement of visual acuity in the better seeing eye. Results The prevalence of UCRE was 6.2% ( 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5‐7.4%). UCRE was more in boys than girls (P= 0.068). UCRE was not related to age and parent’s education. Myopia and astigmatism were the most common UCREs respectively. Present and corrected visual acuity was not different in 83.3% of the students. Visual acuity of 3 or more and 4 and more lines increased in 2.5% and 0.8% of the subjects after correcting refractive errors respectively. In 21.1%, 9.5% and 3.2% of the students with old correction, visual acuity of 2 or more, 3 more, 4 or more lines increased after new correction respectively . Conclusion The results of this study indicated that the prevalence of UCREs in schoolchildren of Iran northeast were similar to the most places of the world . Vision screening and correction refractive errors can prevented from visual impairment in schoolchildren.