[Refractive errors as causes of visual impairment in children from public schools of the Botucatu region - SP].

PURPOSE To evaluate the refractive errors as cause of visual impairment in school children from the Botucatu region. METHODS A sectional study was conducted evaluating preschool and elementary school students, according to gender, refractive error, visual acuity and treatment. RESULTS Four thousand six hundred and twenty-three (4,623) children were submitted to visual acuity evaluation and 8.1% of them were submitted to complete ocular examination. There were 63.2% hyperopic astigmatism, 15.7% myopic astigmatism, 12.5% astigmatism, 4.9% hyperopia and 3.7% myopia. Corrective lenses were prescribed for 48.7% of the evaluated children. CONCLUSION The most frequent refractive error was hyperopic astigmatism and 50% of the children received treatment. The frequency of refractive errors was 3.9% of the studied population.