A study of prevalence of ocular disorders in primary school children in Warangal K.Ravinder

Objectives: To study the prevalence of common ocular disorders in primary and upper primary school children between 5 to12years of age. To screen primary school children studying in government schools. Materials and methods: In the present study, a total of 50 government schools were visited. A total of 5000 children were examined. The materials consisted of Ophthalmic screening kit which has been used to detect the common ocular disorders in school. Results: A total of 5000 children were examined, of which 2491were boys and 2509 were girls. So males (49.82%) and females (50.06%) had an equal representation. The total male children found with visual defects were 168 and total female children found with visual defects were 195. Total number of children found with visual defects were 363. Male and female children with visual defects is 3.36% and 3.9%. Total children with visual defects in the sample is 7.26%.The prevalence rate of myopia, is 1.8%, hypermetropia 0.2%, astigmatism is 0.36%, Refractive errors is 2.36%, bitot’s Spots is 1.7%., conjunctival xerosis is 0.9%, Vitamin-A deficiency is 2.6%, squint is 0.42%, cornealopacity is 0.24%, cataracts is 0.16%, ptosis is 0.18%, amblyopia is 0.14%, keratitis is 0.3%, retinal diseases is 0.22%. The prevalence rate of other diseases is 0.64%. Conclusion: High prevalence of overall ocular morbidity and refractive errors among school students in urban South Indian area. It highlights the urgent need to implement at school level, health facility-based, cost-effective strategies, and appropriate eye careprograms targeting school children to reduce the burden of visual impairment among them.