Visual Disorders Prevalence in Primary School Children in Kermanshah (2001)

Screening visual disorder in children is very important, since early diagnosing preventable factors can help visual health of children. This study was carried out to determine prevalence of visual defects in primary school children in Kermanshah during 2001. 4533 primary school children were studied in this cluster and randomised sampling cross sectional study. Visual acuity of subjects was studied using Snellen chart. Ophthalmologist examined subjects who had visual acuity with lower than or equal to 20/40. Prevalence of uncorrected defects corrected with glasses and corrected visual impairment equal to or less than 20/40 at least in one eye was 5.7%, 2.6% and 0.3% respectively. Refractive errors were the common cause of visual impairment in 87.3% of subjects.The results also showed 5.8% amblyopia, 2.3% other causes and 4.6% unexplained cause. Comparing the prevalence of visual disorders of the studied subjects was lower than or equal to the previous studies. The most important reasons for this reduction may be preschool screening, sampling method or genetic factors. The Common cause of visual impairment was related to correctable causes, which are curable by on time diagnosing and recommending glasses.