Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct;24(4):353-8.
doi: 10.4314/ejhs.v24i4.11.

Prevalence of refractive error and visual impairment among rural school-age children of Goro District, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia

Jafer Kedir  1 , Abonesh Girma  2
Affiliations

Prevalence of refractive error and visual impairment among rural school-age children of Goro District, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia

Jafer Kedir et al. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Refractive error is one of the major causes of blindness and visual impairment in children; but community based studies are scarce especially in rural parts of Ethiopia. So, this study aims to assess the prevalence of refractive error and its magnitude as a cause of visual impairment among school-age children of rural community.

Methods: This community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from March 1 to April 30, 2009 in rural villages of Goro district of Gurage Zone, found south west of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. A multistage cluster sampling method was used with simple random selection of representative villages in the district. Chi-Square and t-tests were used in the data analysis.

Results: A total of 570 school-age children (age 7-15) were evaluated, 54% boys and 46% girls. The prevalence of refractive error was 3.5% (myopia 2.6% and hyperopia 0.9%). Refractive error was the major cause of visual impairment accounting for 54% of all causes in the study group. No child was found wearing corrective spectacles during the study period.

Conclusions: Refractive error was the commonest cause of visual impairment in children of the district, but no measures were taken to reduce the burden in the community. So, large scale community level screening for refractive error should be conducted and integrated with regular school eye screening programs. Effective strategies need to be devised to provide low cost corrective spectacles in the rural community.

Keywords: Refractive error; children; visual acuity; visual impairment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Frequency distribution of Myopia and Hyperopia with age among rural school age children of Goro district, Gurage zone, Mar1–Apr 30, 2009
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ellwen Leon B. Case finding in refractive error. Community Eye Health. 2002;15:43. - PMC - PubMed
    1. VISION 2020 CD-ROM, chapter 3. Developing an action plan: specific disease control strategies.
    1. World Health Organization, author. Elimination of avoidable visual disability due to refractive error. 2001;79:3.
    1. Bull World Health Organ. 1. Vol. 86. Geneva: 2008. Jan,
    1. Yemane B, Alemayehu W, Abebe B, et al. Prevalence and causes of blindness and Low Vision in Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Dev. 2007;21(3):204–210.