Prevalence of Uncorrected Refractive Errors among Primary School Children in Mataria city, Dakahlia governorate, Egypt

Background: Uncorrected refractive errors are among the most frequent causes of visual impairment worldwide. Aim: To assess the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors among 1ry school children in the age group between six and twelve years old within primary schools in Mataria City, Dakahlia governorate, Egypt. Subjects and methods: Random sample of children in 12 primary schools in Mataria city, Dakahlia. In each school, there were six grades. One class was randomly selected from every grade. The sample size was 4500 students. Results: The prevalence of refractive errors in either eye or both eyes has been (27%). Of 727 students who had a refractive error, 360 students (49.4%) had myopia in the right eye, 364 students (50%) had myopia in the left eye, 236 students (32.7%) had hyperopia in right eye and 219 student (30.1%) had hyperopia in left eye, 73student (10%) had astigmatism in right eye and 85student (11.6%) had astigmatism in left eye. Regarding visual acuity, 1020 students (84%) had a V/A range from 6/9 to 6/18, 105 students (8.6%) had a V/A range from 6/18 to 6/60, 90 students (7.4%) had a V/A range from 6/60 to 3/60. Conclusion: The prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors in school children was 27.0% from total screened children. Spherical equivalent myopia has been observed in 55% of children (the commonest type), 36% of children were Hypermetropia, and astigmatism was found in 9% of children. All types of refractive errors were more frequent in women than in men.