Spectrum of visual impairment among urban female school students of Surat.
OBJECTIVE
Eye morbidities with or without symptoms delineate a significant morbidity among adolescent schoolgirls in India. The study was undertaken to assess the extent of visual impairment and ocular morbidity to identify influencing factors and the impact on scholastic performance.


METHODS
A population-based cross-sectional study was undertaken among 3002 urban girl students of Surat in Gujarat, India. Overall prevalence of refractive error was found to be 15.22%; myopia affected 91.47%, hyperopia 4.60%, and astigmatism 0.04%. The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was more in higher age groups, while hyperopia was more in lower age groups; even students with good vision reported ophthalmic symptoms. Of all spectacle users, in 29.73% cases the eyesight was not found to be with the best possible corrections. Refractive error was observed to be higher among the general caste (50.98%) and among Muslims (54.05%). Still, among those with problems of eyesight, 75.93% students had good academic performance. Associated ocular morbidity was noted in 20.35% participants along with the refractive error.


CONCLUSIONS
This study highlighted the load of eye morbidities of adolescent Indian urban girls.
Department of Community Medicine, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences and Central Referral Hospital, 5th Mile, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim-737 102, India.
Mausumi
M
Basu
Palash
P
Das
Ranabir
R
Pal
Sumit
S
Kar
Vikas K
VK
Desai
Abhay
A
Kavishwar
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D009017:Morbidity; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*