Suchergebnisse

Refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment and at the same time the most treatable cause of visual impairment in children and students. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of the unmet need for refractive correction and the spectacle coverage rate among 7-year-old Iranian children with refractive errors. The present cross-sectional study was performed in 2013 through multistage cluster sampling across eight cities in Iran. For all students, noncycloplegic autorefraction was done by a technician. The unmet need for glasses was defined as the ratio of people who did not have glasses or their vision with their current glasses was worse than 6/12 despite achieving 6/12 or better visual acuity with proper correction. A total of 67 schools were selected by multistage cluster sampling; 4106 subjects participated in the study (response rate, 89%), and 48.2% ( n = 1979) were girls. The prevalence of spectacle need was 4.11% (95% confidence interval [CI: 3.19–5.04]), the unmet need was 2.74% (95% CI [1.89–3.59]), and the spectacle coverage rate (met need/[met need + unmet need]) was 33.3%. Also, the unmet need in children whose families were in the lower income quartile was 7.14 times the rate seen in children in the upper income quartile. The concentration index for the unmet need was −.27 (±.05). The findings of this study confirm that in light of the detrimental effects of refractive errors in schoolchildren's academic progress and their future, identification of the students who live in poorer families and have multiple risk factors for developing vision disorders should be a health priority.