Visual Status Of Schoolchildren In Sekela Woreda Amhara Regional State Ethiopia

Background: Low vision and blindness are recognized as one of the major public healthrnproblems worldwide, especially in developing countries where 90% of the blind live. Ethiopia isrnbelieved to have one of the world’s highest rates of blindness and low vision. Although there arernlimited studies, recent data are lacking to accurately determine the magnitude of eye problems inrnEthiopia. Although, the prevalence of blindness is high as people age, it is also a major problemrnin children in developing countries.rnObjective: The main aim of this study was to assess the visual status of schoolchildren in SekelarnWoreda, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia.rnMethods: The study design was descriptive cross sectional and the sampling technique wasrnmultistage cluster sampling method. The study was conducted from September18 to November 08,rn2016 Sekela Woreda. A total of 863 samples, 461 males and 402 females with age range 8-18rnyears were selected. Snellen's chart was used for visual acuity test and color blindness wasrndetermined using Ishihara color plates. Students who had visual acuity of 6/12 or worse andrnthose who read 9 or less plates were further interviewed and diagnosed by optometrist to identifyrnthe cause of visual impairment. Socio-demographic factors were associated with VisualrnImpairment and color blindness.rnResults: The prevalence of visual acuity impairment (VA) ≤ 6/12 in either eye was 70 (8.1%).rnAmong these, 37 (4.3%) were males and 33 (3.8%) were females. The prevalence of low visionrn(VA≤ 6/36) and blindness (VA< 3/60) in either eye was 28 (3.3%) and 10 (1.2%) respectively.rnThere were 36 (4.2%) cases of defective color vision. Among these, 27 (3.16%) were males and 9rn(1.04%) were females. Of 36 cases, 15 (1.8%) were deutan, 7 (0.8%) were protan and 14(1.6%)rnwere unclassified (combined). From the total color blind cases, 9 (1.04%) were strongrndeuteranopes and 4 (0.5%) were strong protanopes.rnConclusion: The magnitude of Visual impairment and color blindness is found to be high in SeklarnWoreda. Refractive error was the major cause for visual impairment. Low income, crowdedrnfamily size and illiteracy may be related to the children's visual impairment.rnKey Words: Visual Impairment, Color Blindness, Prevalence, Amhara Region and Ethiopia

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