Prevalence and associated factors of visual impairment among children attending primary schools in Kawempe Division, Kampala District

Abstract

Introduction Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment of which half or more are preventable or correctable. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major cause of visual impairment in all countries amongst children. Children need to have a comprehensive eye exam at one, three and six years of age or before they begin formal schooling Objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of visual impairment among primary school going children in Kawempe division. 2. To determine the factors associated with visual impairment among primary school going children in Kawempe division.

Methodology This was a cross-sectional school based study of 413 children aged 6 to 13 years in 4 randomly selected primary schools in Kawempe division. We used a modified Refractive Error Study in Children to determine the prevalence of visual impairment and a questionnaire to collect information about factors associated with visual impairment. Results The prevalence of visual impairment of 6/12 or worse was 6.5%. In our study, the statistically significant factors (at p<0.05) were distance while watching television <1 metre (p=0.011), duration of phone use (p=0.002) and presenting history (p=0.001). Age, gender, duration of watching television, child visit to the hospital and family income were not statistically significant. The prevalence of refractive error was 5.6% in total. Conclusion Prevalence of visual impairment among children attending primary schools in Kawempe division was low. The majority of cases are preventable with effective sensitization of the public and collaboration among stakeholders.