Prevalence of ocular disorders among 6- and 7-year-olds in Santa Monica, California.
BACKGROUND
Undetected ocular disorders can cause serious problems in a child's mental and social development.


METHODS
To investigate relationships between ocular disease, gender and ethnicity in children, vision screening examination data was analyzed from the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic (MEC), collected from 1985 to 1990 on first graders (69.9 percent 6- and 30.1 percent 7-year-olds) in Santa Monica, California.


RESULTS
The sample consisted of 1,469 individuals, of whom 48.1 percent were female and 51.9 percent were male. Ethnicity data was available from 1988 to 1990 on 834 individuals, of whom 46.9 percent were Hispanic, 27.9 percent were White. 11.5 percent were Black, 4.4 percent were Asian, and 9.2 percent were of other races. Significantly more females than males had refractive errors, specifically hyperopia and astigmatism, and uncorrected visual acuity of 20/50 or worse in at least one eye. There were no significant associations of ethnicity or sex with any other disease category. The overall prevalences of other diseases were less than 4 percent. Of the 6- and 7-year-olds studied in Santa Monica, California, 18.5 percent had refractive errors.


CONCLUSIONS
Screening for ocular disorders at an early age allows for detection of problems, especially refractive errors, that might affect school performance if uncorrected.
Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA 90024-7004, USA.
P C
PC
Chen
R J
RJ
Chang
D A
DA
Lee
N C
NC
Wheeler
D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015351:Vision Screening