Vision profile of the children in schools for the special needs in Kampala City

Abstract

Background: Vision plays a fundamental role in the acquisition of skills such as skills requiring hand–eye coordination, language and interpreting facial expressions. In children with special needs, it is noted to play an important role in the psychosocial development of the child and can also compensate for some impaired functions. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the vision profile of children attending schools for children with special needs in Kampala, Uganda. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study evaluating the visual profile of children attending schools for children with special needs in Kampala who are approximately 4340 children. We used materials such as visual acuity charts, retinoscopes, trial lenses, stereo tests, pen torches and others. The results were recorded in the modified Refractive Error in School Children (RESC) protocol. Data collected was stored in Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS software. Results: 331 participants were involved in the study with a male to female ratio of 1:1.12. 66.47% of the participants have normal distance vision and 30.16% have impaired distance vision. 17.52% of the participants have a refractive error. Only 1.51% of the participants had a refractive error correction. 70.39% of participants have normal near vision and 15.71 % have poor near vision. 78.55% of participants are emmetropic, 11.79% are myopic, 6.34% participants are hyperopic and only one (0.3%) has mixed astigmatism. 94.26% of participants have normal colour vision and 0.91% have defective colour vision. 8.46% of participants have a tropia. 78.85% of participants have normal stereopsis of ≤ 100 arc of seconds, 10.27% participants have reduced stereopsis of > 100. Conclusion: There is a remarkably high prevalence of poor visual status among children with special needs. Most of the children have reversible visual impairment (refractive errors) which has remarkably affected their academic performance. The frequency of ophthalmic evaluation among children with special needs attending special schools is low.