title: A survey of severe visual impairment in children attending schools for the blind in a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh in South India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the major causes of severe childhood visual impairment and blindness among students attending schools for the blind in a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in South India.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children ≤ 16 years of age attending six schools for the blind in the study area were interviewed and examined in the year 2009, and causes were classified according to the World Health Organization Program for Prevention of Blindness (WHO/PBL) childhood blindness proforma. A total of 113 children underwent a detailed eye examination by an experienced ophthalmologist.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The major causes of blindness were congenital eye anomalies in 46 children (41.4; 95% confidence interval (CI): 32.3-50.6), followed by retinal disorders in 21 children (18.9%; 95% CI: 11.6-26.2), cataract in 9 children (9.7%; 95% CI: 2.9-12.9), and corneal conditions (scar and Staphyloma) in 8 children (7.1%; 95% CI: 2.4-11.8). More than half the children (56.6%) were blind due to conditions that could have been treated or prevented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Congenital anomalies were found to be the most common cause of blindness. The majority of the cases were due to avoidable causes of blindness. Therefore, robust screening measures may help reduce the burden of visual impairment in children.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Kallam Anji Reddy Campus, Hyderabad, India. krishnaiah@lvpei.org
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnaiah
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Subba Rao
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lakshmi Narasamma
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D060329:Education of Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*