Myopia in secondary school students in Mwanza City, Tanzania: the need for a national screening programme.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of significant refractive errors and other eye diseases was measured in 2511 secondary school students aged 11-27 years in Mwanza City, Tanzania. Risk factors for myopia were explored.


METHODS
A questionnaire assessed the students' socioeconomic background and exposure to near work followed by visual acuity assessment and a full eye examination. Non-cycloplegic objective and subjective refraction was done on all participants with visual acuity of worse than 6/12 in either eye without an obvious cause.


RESULTS
154 (6.1%) students had significant refractive errors. Myopia was the leading refractive error (5.6%). Amblyopia (0.4%), strabismus (0.2%), and other treatable eye disorders were uncommon. Only 30.3% of students with significant refractive errors wore spectacles before the survey. Age, sex, ethnicity, father's educational status, and a family history of siblings with spectacles were significant independent risk factors for myopia.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of uncorrected significant refractive errors is high enough to justify a regular school eye screening programme in secondary schools in Tanzania. Risk factors for myopia are similar to those reported in European, North-American, and Asian populations.
Wedner
S H
SH
Hindu Union Hospital, Mwanza, Tanzania. wedner@gmx.net
Ross
D A
DA
Todd
J
J
Anemona
A
A
Balira
R
R
Foster
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D018912:Arabs; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015351:Vision Screening; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology