Prevalence and distribution of uncorrected refractive error among school children in the Bongo District of Ghana

Abstract

Abstract To estimate the prevalence and distribution of uncorrected refractive error among school children in the Bongo District of Ghana. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 12–15-year-old children in eighteen public junior high schools in the Bongo District of Ghana. External and internal eye examinations were conducted while a non–cycloplegic refraction technique was used to determine refractive errors among the children. A total of 1,705 school children were recruited and examined for refractive errors. Their mean age ± SD was 14.1 ± 0.9 years. The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error was 1.8% (95% CI 1.2%—2.5%) with myopia (0.8%; 95% CI 0.5%—1.4%) being the most common, followed by astigmatism (0.6%; 95% CI 0.3%—1.1%) then hyperopia (0.4%; 95% CI 0.2%—0.8%). A multinomial logistic regression revealed that female students had about three times higher risk of having uncorrected refractive error as compared to males after adjusting for age which was statistically significant (ARR: 2.7; 95% CI 1.2-6.3; z = 2.3; P = .02). None of the children with refractive error had correction. Even though the prevalence of uncorrected refractive error in this study is lower than that reported in different parts of the country, none of the children with an error had correction. There is, therefore, the need for other studies to be conducted to further explore the cause of this as well as the varying prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors among children in the northern and southern parts of Ghana.