A survey of the prevalence of refractive errors among children in lower primary schools in Kampala district.
BACKGROUND
Refractive errors are a known cause of visual impairment and may cause blindness worldwide. In children, refractive errors may prevent those afflicted from progressing with their studies. In Uganda, like in many developing countries, there is no established vision-screening programme for children on commencement of school, such that those with early onset of such errors will have many years of poor vision. Over all, there is limited information on refractive errors among children in Africa.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of refractive errors among school children attending lower primary in Kampala district; the frequency of the various types of refractive errors, and their relationship to sexuality and ethnicity.


METHODS
A cross-sectional descriptive study.


METHODS
Kampala district, Uganda


METHODS
A total of 623 children aged between 6 and 9 years had a visual acuity testing done at school using the same protocol; of these 301 (48.3%) were boys and 322 (51.7%) girls.


RESULTS
Seventy-three children had a significant refractive error of +/-0.50 or worse in one or both eyes, giving a prevalence of 11.6% and the commonest single refractive error was astigmatism, which accounted for 52% of all errors. This was followed by hypermetropia, and myopia was the least common.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant refractive errors occur among primary school children aged 6 to 9 years at a prevalence of approximately 12%. Therefore, there is a need to have regular and simple vision testing in primary school children at least at the commencement of school so as to defect those who may suffer from these disabilities.
Kawuma
Medi
M
Department of Ophthalmology, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Mayeku
Robert
R
D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology