Prevalence of Refractive Errors Among School Children in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia
AUTHOR:
Yared, A.W., Belaynew, W.T., Destaye, S., Ayanaw, T. and Zelalem, E.
SPONSOR/INSTITUTION:
YEAR PUBLISHED:
2012
PUBLICATION:
Middle East African Journal of Ophthalmology
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of refractive error among children enrolled in elementary schools in Gondar town, Ethiopia.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 1852 students selected by multistage random sampling in 8 elementary schools.
The prevalence of refractive errors in either eye was 9.4%, present in 174 children.
Myopia was present in 55 (31.6%) children in the right and left eyes followed by hyperopia in 46 (26.4%) and 39 (22.4%) in the right and left eyes respectively.
The commonest refractive error was low myopia present in 61 (49.2%) and 68 (50%) children for the right and left eyes respectively.
Refractive error among children is a common problem in Gondar town and needs to be assessed at every health evaluation of school children for timely treatment.