VISUAL SCREENING

GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN IN FAISALABAD

Abstract

Background: Various eye diseases affect school going children. They do not
complain of defective vision usually. Uncorrected visual problems are the basic reason for early
visual impairment and blindness. An early diagnosis and treatment can reduce it to a great
extent. Purpose: To reduce the prevalence of avoidable blindness among urban children in
Pakistan. Study design: It was an observational and interventional study conducted in various
Government, Private and Community Schools. The children requiring detailed ophthalmic
examination and surgeries were referred to Diagnostic and Research Centre, Department of
Ophthalmology, Allied Hospital, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad. Period: January, 2013 -
December, 2013. Age: 5 -16 years. Subjects and settings: Total 60,402 children were screened
from 87 government, private and community schools. All the students were screened for eye
disorders by testing visual acuity with Snellen’s chart, anterior segment by torch light examination
and fundus examination with ophthalmoscope. The study team included the school teachers,
a clinical ophthalmologist, a refractionist, a community ophthalmologist, an optometrist, an
ophthalmic technician, physiologist, PG trainees and a community social worker. The children
identified with more complex visual problems were referred for detailed examination to Allied
Hospital. Every government, private and community school of the target area was visited. All the
data was collected, arranged and analyzed. Results: During study period, total 60,402 children
were screened from 87 government, private and community schools. The students having visual
acuity ≥ 6/12, with or without glasses, were considered as normal. Out of 60,402 screened
children, 54966 (91.01%) were normal and 5436 (8.99%) were identified by the teachers with the
eye problems. 2,028 (3.35%) students were provided spectacles. Among these, 364 were boys
and 1664 were girls. This shows 18 % refractive error in boys and 82% in girls. 120 children were
treated by surgery; 63 for cataract (0.1%), 42 for squint (0.06%) and 15 (0.02%) for ptosis. Other
identified ocular problems were chalazion 671(1.11%), blepheritis 696 (1.15%), corneal ulcer/
opacity 7 (0.01%), conjunctivitis 1133 (1.87%), non-cooperative 781 (1.29%). Conclusions: In
urban areas of Faisalabad district, 8.99% of school going children needed treatment for their
ocular problems. School screening programs could play an essential role in the betterment of
eye health and the avoidance of blindness among urban children in Pakistan.