Refractive errors among school children in aqaba jordan

الملخص EN

Objective: To assess the refractive errors among school children and to evaluate their eye condition, particularly visual acuity.

Methods: This is a prospective survey that has been performed in Aqaba, at Princess Haya Hospital, eye clinic A total of 194 children were included: 166 came from public schools with an age range between (6-14) years.

The rest were chosen from kindergarten schools with age range between (4-5) years.

The period of the survey extended from August 2000 to February 2001 ( one semester).

Only those with correctable refractive errors as a cause of low vision were included.

Results: More than half of the students (56%) noticed for the first time to have a refractive error were already above the age of 10 years.

The highest percentage included those who had difficulty in seeing the blackboard in the classroom, followed by those watching television from a close distance.

Only a quarter of these children were referred to the ophthalmologist by the school physician after routine medical checkup.

Hypermetropia was more common among children 4-5 years.

Myopia was noticed to be more common after the age of 6 years.

Conclusion: This survey showed that there was a delay in presentation to ophthalmologists for refractive error correction, as well as lack of a routine ophthalmic school check -up, which is usually delayed till the fourth grade.

We recommend yearly vision check to be started at the age of four years to prevent significant consequences of high refractive errors, like amblyopia, and to achieve a better school performance.

A campaign for parental education for early signs of low vision detection is vital.