Assessment of visual acuity amongst school‑aged students in Southern Cross River State, Nigeria
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Visual impairment is a major public health concern worldwide, with uncorrected refractive errors as a major cause of visual impairment in children. Most of the causes of this visual impairments can be prevented or easily corrected.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES: This study seeks to determine the prevalence of visual impairment and factors responsible for visual acuity screening amongst school‑aged children in Southern Cross River State, Nigeria.
METHODOLOGY: This was a cross‑sectional descriptive designed study using a multistage sampling technique, with a self‑administered questionnaire to obtain quantitative data from school‑aged children in secondary schools in Calabar Municipality, Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State in South‑South Nigeria.
RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 13.9 ± 2 years. The prevalence of visual impairment amongst students was 5.7%. Although majority of the respondents (73.9%) were aware of visual acuity screening test, only 33.9% of the respondents had ever had a visual acuity test done. A statistically significant association was found (P < 0.05) between those students who were aware of eye screening test, had their vision deteriorate or have their academic performance affected by their vision and the practice of performing an eye screening test.
CONCLUSION: Awareness of visual acuity screening did not translate into practice, so it is necessary for visual acuity screening test to be made mandatory for all school‑aged children to help detect visual impairment early.
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