TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS FOR UNCORRECTED REFRACTIVE ERROR AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN MEERUT.

Abstract

Background: Eyes are the best God gift to our body as vision is important in development as it allows interaction with the environment. Appropriate correction prevents the development of childhood amblyopia and enables better performance at school. Later in life carrier of the youth is very much dependent on the visual acuity. Therefore study aims to find the prevalence of the uncorrected refractive error among school children in the age group of 13-16 years and factors contributing to the refractive error. Methods: It is institutional based crossed sectional study in English medium private school children in the age group 13-16 years. For one week they were screened for visual acuity from a Standard Snellen Chart. On pre-informed date educational intervention was conducted; they were followed up after one week of intervention for final assessment. Results: Prevalence of the uncorrected refractive error was 14.8% Distance for watching TV less than 3 m and computer less than 1 m were highly significant. Prolonged duration of TV watching for more than 4 hours in a day and indulgence in computers for more than one year were also significant. In follow up after education intervention, all the children with uncorrected refractive error except 2 had paid visit to ophthalmologist. Conclusion: Community based screening through school is most appropriate strategy to detect early any visual impairment, but school based approach must include teachers orientation also for prevention of eye disease.