Alaettin Unsal, Unal Ayranci, Mustafa Tozun.
Vision screening among children in primary schools in a district of western Turkey: an epidemiological study.
Pak J Med Sci Jan ;25(5):976-81.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of visual impairments among children in primary schools. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted between from November 1st to December 31st 2006. Visual acuity was determined with the Snellen’s E chart. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity of d"20/40 in the better eye, as amblyopia if the difference in visual acuity between both eyes was 0.2d"dioptry, and as strabismus if the cover test was positive. Results: Of the study group (n=1606), 53.7% (n=864) were boys and 46.3% (n=742) girls. The mean age of the participants was 10.52±2.28 (range 6-17), The girls had a higher frequency of a presenting visual impairment than boys (2.4% vs. 1.0%), (p<0.05). Twenty seven (1.7%) children presented with vision of d"20/40 in the better eye. The prevalence of presenting visual acuity for d"20/40 was significantly higher in children with glasses compared to the group of children without glasses (p<0.05). The prevalence of amblyopia was 5.0%, whereas that of strabismus was 1.7%. Conclusions: The number of students with visual impairments was high, and many students were unaware of visual impairments and their risk factors.

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