Article Sidebar
Published:
Jun 25, 2023DOI:
10.4314/jnoa.v25i1.7Keywords:
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
The author(s) retain their copyright, which means that authors may use the article for teaching and other non-commercial research purposes without approval from the publisher, provided the journal is acknowledged as the original source.
Disclaimer: Concerted efforts are always made by the Publisher and the Editorial Board to see that no inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or assertion appears in this journal. However, information and opinions appearing in the articles of this journal are the sole responsibility of the author(s) concerned. The Publisher, Editorial Board, their agents or employees, accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the consequences of any inaccurate information.
Main Article Content
Prevalence of visual impairment among primary and secondary school children in Delta State, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose: Visual impairment (VI) being a state of physiological or pathological disorders of vision posesa burden on human activities globally. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of VI among school children in Delta State.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 201 respondents aged 6 to 19 years were randomly selected from primary and secondary schools in the three senatorial districts of Delta State. Participants were evaluated using a structured questionnaire, distance Snellen chart, ophthalmoscope, and torchlight. Vision status was defined using World Health Organization categories of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity (PVA). Data were presented in frequency tables, charts and analysed with Chi-Square statistics. All p-values reported were two-tailed and statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05.
Results: The mean age of participants was 12.30± 3.14 years, while 118 (58.7%) were females. The overall prevalence of VI (PVA of <6/18 in the better eye) was 58 (28.9%). The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe VI was 40 (19.9%), 13 (6.5%), and 5 (2.5%) respectively. Refractive error 47 (23.4%) was the leading cause of VI. The prevalence of VI was higher in females, children 13-19 years, and respondents whose parents’ income per month was >100,000. These observed differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05)
Conclusion: Untreated refractive error was the leading cause of VI among school children in Delta State. This is an avoidable cause of VI that can be treated with spectacle prescription to ease the burden of visual loss.
