Prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness among school children in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

Background: Vision loss in childhood has serious implications in all stages of child’s growth and development. It poses social, educational and occupational challenges, with affected children being at greater risk of developing behavioral, psychological and emotional problems, lower self-esteem and poorer social integration. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and identify the causes of visual impairment and blindness in school children of UC Gojra, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan so that prevention strategies could be implemented.Methods: This was a school-based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among public and private schools. A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used for selecting study participants aged 5-20 years from 24 schools in Muzaffarabad. The vision of school children was examined for visual acuity using standard Snellen chart. Those participants who had visual acuity of <6/18 in either eye underwent a more detailed ophthalmic examination to diagnose the causes of VI. An exploration of demographic variables was conducted using Chi-square test. Results: The mean age of participants was 10±2.83. The prevalence of visual impairment was 19.6% and 2.3% for severe visual impairment. The age group most affected by VI was 11-15 years (74.2%). There were increased chances of developing VI with advancing age of the participants. Males contributed 88.7% of the cases of VI while females contributed only 11.3%. The class category 5-6 had higher percentage of VI cases (32.7%). Public schools contributed 52.8% of the cases of VI while for private schools the corresponding percentage was 47.2%. The leading cause of VI was refractive error (89.3%) followed by amblyopia (5.0%). Other causes of VI included cataract (1.2%), corneal disease (1.8%), strabismus (1.8%) and nystagmus (0.6%).Conclusions: There is a need to implement school health policy on visual screening prior to admissions in schools and annual eye screening program for early detection and prompt treatment of eye problems among school children in Muzaffarabad.

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Attitude Towards Menstruation Among Female In-School Adolescents: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study in Southwest Nigeria

10.21203/rs.3.rs-42447/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Olufemi Oludare Aluko ◽

Jireh Ngozi Udechukwu ◽

Oluwaseun Anthonia Loto ◽

Ayoola Oluwaniyi Orisawayi ◽

Grace Ojodomo Ojogba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Private Schools ◽

Negative Attitude ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Public And Private ◽

Menstrual Symptoms

Abstract Background: Menarche and menstruation are natural procedures in a girl’s transition to womanhood. Lack of awareness thereof, before menarche and stigmatizing menstrual hygiene management (MHM) perception and experiences predominate in low resource economies and influences attitude. The study aims to determine and compare the attitude of adolescents attending public and private schools on menstruation and MHM in the study area.Methods: The cross-sectional study recruited 357 respondents, comprising of 177 and 180 female adolescents from public and private schools through a three-stage sampling technique. The study administered a validated, semi-structured questionnaire that was facilitated self-administered. Descriptive and inferential statistics presented results, while binary logistic regression identified predictors of attitude at Pά0.05.Results: Except for religion, other socio-demographic characteristics (age, class, ethnicity, whom adolescents’ lives with, highest education and wealth) were significantly different between public and private schools. However, respondents in public schools were older (15.4±1.75 years) when compared with those attending private schools (14.3±1.18 years). On attitude, negative feelings and openness scales were significantly different between respondents attending public and private schools, while those of positive feelings, menstrual symptoms, acceptance of menarche and living with menstruation were respectively similar at Pα0.05. Overall attitude scale indicated a higher negative rating (87.4) when compared with a positive score (12.6%). With a positive attitude as a reference, ethnicity was the only negative attitude predictor (Pα0.05).Conclusions: Adolescents attending public and private schools have negative attitudes toward menstruation and MHM. Therefore, awareness and puberty education through ethnic constructs, on menstruation and MHM before menarche is indispensable to improve their attitude.

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Anthropometric Indices in Primary School Children of Iranshahr City, Iran

Journal of Nutrition and Food Security ◽

10.18502/jnfs.v4i4.1722 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Farzaneh Montazerifar ◽

Mansour Karajibani ◽

Hossnieh Asoudeh ◽

Mohaddeseh Asoudeh ◽

Ali Reza Dashipour

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Primary School ◽

Private Schools ◽

School Children ◽

Health Problem ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Primary School Children ◽

World Health ◽

Anthropometric Indices ◽

Cross Sectional

Background: Malnutrition, as a serious health problem in children, has an increasing prevalence in the developing countries. This study aimed to evaluate the anthropometric indices of primary school children in Iranshahr, a city in central region of Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 1000 6-14 year-old primary school children studying in 16 public and 5 private schools in Iranshahr city from May to June 2017. The sampling was done using multistage cluster random method. The school records were used to determine the students' ages. Their weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were measured. Anthropometric indices including weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age were assessed using the National Center for Health Statistics/World Health Organization international growth reference and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2000). Results: The rate of thinness was significantly higher in public than private schools (18.1% vs 1%; P < 0.0001). Overweight/obesity was lower in public schools’ children compared to students of the private schools (0.1% vs 9.3%; P = 0.007). The rates of stunting and underweight in public and private schools’ children were 50.2% vs. 53.3% (P = 0.11) and 46.6% vs 35% (P < 0.0001), respectively. Conclusion: Findings showed that although nutritional status was better in private schools than public schools, malnutrition is still a potential public health problem in this area. Therefore, the nutrition interventions are suggested at national and regional levels to increase the parents' awareness.

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The Prevalence of Visual Acuity Impairment among School Children at Arada Subcity Primary Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Journal of Ophthalmology ◽

10.1155/2017/9326108 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Haile Fentahun Darge ◽

Getahun Shibru ◽

Abiy Mulugeta ◽

Yinebeb Mezgebu Dagnachew

Keyword(s):

Visual Acuity ◽

Visual Impairment ◽

School Children ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Low Vision ◽

Addis Ababa ◽

Care Service ◽

Health Care Service ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

Background. Visual impairment and blindness are major public health problems in developing countries where there is no enough health-care service. Objective. To determine the prevalence of visual impairment among school children. Materials and Methods. A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted between 15 June 2015 and 30 November 2015 at Arada subcity primary schools, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Two schools were selected randomly, and 378 students were screened from grades 1 to 8 using systematic random sampling method. Snellen chart was used for visual acuity test. Students who had visual acuity of ≤6/12 were further examined by an ophthalmologist to diagnose the reason for low vision. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results. A total of 378 students were screened, and 192 (50.8%) were females and the remaining 186 (49.2%) were males. The prevalence of visual impairment (VA) of ≤6/12 on either eye was 5.8%, VA < 6/18 on either eye was 1.1%, and VA < 6/18 on the better eye was 0.53%. In this study, color blindness [OR: 19.65, 95% CI (6.01–64.33)] was significantly associated with visual acuity impairment. Conclusion. The prevalence of visual impairment among school children in the study area was 5.8% and school screening is recommended.

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Spectrum of Skin Diseases among School Aged Children in Jos North-Central Nigeria

Journal of BioMedical Research and Clinical Practice ◽

10.46912/jbrcp.108 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 102-106

Author(s):

R Adah ◽

G Adah ◽

H Abdu ◽

C John ◽

S Okolo

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

School Children ◽

Primary Schools ◽

School Health ◽

Skin Diseases ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Public And Private ◽

Multistage Sampling ◽

School Health Programme

Skin diseases are common causes of morbidity among children in developing Nations. An awareness of the types of skin morbidities seen in school children and the associated factors may enable individuals’ families and government carry out or direct preventive and therapeutic measures appropriately. The aim of this study was to assess the spectrum of skin diseases among primary school children in Jos North Local Government Area. Three hundred and ninety (390) pupils were recruited from some public and private primary schools using multistage sampling technique. Structured Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to obtain information. Key diagnostics features were used for clinical diagnosis of major skin diseases. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 21. There were a total of 199 males and 191 females. Age range was between 6 and 12 years. Prevalence rate of skin disease was 36.2%. A total of 28 different types of skin diseases were seen among the pupils, with infections making up the bulk (47.3%). Among the infections, Tinea (23.9%) was the most prevalent. while dermatitis accounted for 20.7%. There was no sex predilection. Skin diseases were significantly more prevalent in children between 6-7 years ( p-0.014) and associated with lower socioeconomic class (p-0.001) and children from public schools (p-0.000). Preventive and curative health services should be provided in the school health programme especially in public schools for reduction of the prevalence of skin disorders.

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Visual impairment and associated factors among primary school children in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia

African Health Sciences ◽

10.4314/ahs.v20i1.60 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 533-542

Author(s):

Gashaw Garedew Woldeamanuel ◽

Mohammed Derese Biru ◽

Teshome Gensa Geta ◽

Birhan Abera Areru

Keyword(s):

Primary School ◽

Visual Impairment ◽

School Children ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Associated Factors ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Southern Ethiopia ◽

Cross Sectional

Background: Visual impairment is one of the major public health problems worldwide, especially in developing countries. Objective: To determine the prevalence of visual impairment and its associated factors among school children in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in eight primary schools of Gurage Zone. A total of 1064 pupils, of whom589 boys and 475 girls were selected using multistage sampling technique. Socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were collected using structured questionnaires and visual acuity was measured using Snellen’s chart. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associated factors of visual impairment. Results: The prevalence of visual impairment was 5.2%. Factors significantly associated with visual impairment were age group of 13-18 years (AOR = 9.44, 95% CI = 3.83 – 23.25), school grade level of 5- 8 (AOR = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.23 – 7.17), rural residents (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.22 – 5.54), family’s monthly income of less than 2000 Ethiopian Birr (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI = 1.08 – 7.61) and visually impaired parents (AOR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.06 – 4.39). Conclusion: This study found that the prevalence of visual impairment was 5.2%. Keywords: Visual impairment; primary school children; Gurage Zone; Southern Ethiopia.

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Prevalence of Refractive Error and Strabismus in Primary School Children of Tehsil Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Journal of Gandhara Medical and Dental Science ◽

10.37762/jgmds.7-1.99 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 11-21

Author(s):

Faheem Ullah ◽

Naheed Mahsood ◽

Waqas Mohyuddin ◽

Saadullah Afridi ◽

Zia Ur Rehman

Keyword(s):

Primary School ◽

Visual Impairment ◽

School Children ◽

Refractive Error ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Public Health

OBJECTIVES: Refractive errors and strabismus continue to remain a significant public health problem. Among school children it has an impact on child development. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of refractive error and strabismus among primary school children. METHODOLOGY: It was a cross-sectional study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the school children. Data was collected in November-December 2013. Visual impairment was defined as, presenting VA of < 6/12. A total of 2288 children (1746 boys and 542 girls) were screened from 26 randomly selected schools. Stratified sampling technique was used. Data were collected on pre-designed questionnaires and entered and analyzed by SPSS software version 16. RESULTS: The mean age of children was 8.10 + 2.3 years. About 4% children were found visually impaired. The prevalence of refractive error was found to be 5.4%, of which 88.6% was uncorrected refractive error. The prevalence of refractive error was found higher in girls than boys, 6.8% and 5.0% respectively. Among types of refractive error, myopia prevalence was 2.3%, hypermetropia prevalence was 2.0% and astigmatism prevalence was 1.1%. The prevalence of strabismus was 1.3%. Refractive error was found as a main cause of visual impairment in school children. Prevalence of strabismus among this study population is relatively low as compared to the global prevalence of 2% to 5%. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that more study to determine the extent of the problem and possible factors for development of refractive error and strabismus types are needed to mitigate these conditions.

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Appraisal of the Perceptions of Teachers on the Implementation of School Health Services in Private and Public Secondary Schools in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Asian Journal of Medicine and Health ◽

10.9734/ajmah/2021/v19i230307 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 80-87

Author(s):

Onyechi Nwankwo ◽

Lois N. Omaka-Amari ◽

Eunice N. Afoke ◽

Ifeyinwa M. Okeke ◽

Jude N. Nwafor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Health Services ◽

Secondary Schools ◽

School Health ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

P Value ◽

School Health Services ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Private And Public ◽

Perceptions Of Teachers

Aims: The purpose of this paper is to appraise the perceptions of teachers on the implementation of school health services in Private and Public Secondary Schools in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Background: Health is an essential commodity that every living human bargain for and is the prerequisite determinant of our overall achievements be it academic, social, economic and political dimesions. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed to appraise the perceptions of teachers on the implementation of school health services in private and public secondary schools in Ebonyi state. Using the multistage sampling technique a total of 160 teachers who consented to participate in the study were enrolled. A self-developed questionnaire titled: Appraisal of the Perceptions of Teachers on the Implementation of School Health Service (APTISHS) was used for data collection. Results: The findings revealed that the perceptions of teachers on the implementation of school health services in private and public secondary schools in Ebonyi state were generally poor with the Mean score 2 and 2.2 respectively. However, despite the low perception on the implementation, private schools were more favoured than public schools in areas like: Availability of personnel (P-value: 0.00); Health records (P-value: 0.00), Quality of first aid box (P-value: 0.01). Conclusion: While efforts are made to revamp school health services in all schools, a heightened attention should be given to public schools. For an effective implementation of the school health services government should set up an implementation and evaluation committee or monitoring team. The team should composed of stakeholders from both ministries of Education and Health, school managements in both public and private including their association bodies, parent association and the communities hosting the schools. This body will facilitate issues to be agreed upon and enforcement more realistic.

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HUBUNGAN DURASI BERMAIN VIDIO GAME DENGAN KETAJAMAN PENGLIHATAN PADA ANAK SEKOLAH DI SDN 007 PULAU BIRANDANG

Jurnal Ners ◽

10.31004/jn.v3i2.396 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 11-18

Author(s):

RINDA FITHRIYANA

Keyword(s):

Visual Acuity ◽

Video Games ◽

Extracurricular Activities ◽

School Children ◽

Human Life ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Educational Process ◽

School Age Children ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Student Activities

Vision is one of the most important factors in all aspects of life including in the educational process. Although its function for human life is very important, but often eye health is less noticed, so many diseases that attack the eye are not treated properly and cause vision problems. In 2013 the prevalence of visual acuity disorders in school-age children in Indonesia increased due to activities in front of the electronic media screen such as playing video games. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of the duration of playing video games with visual acuity in school children at SDN 007 Birandang Island in 2017. The design of this study was analytic with cross sectional design. The population in this study were all students in grade V and VI SDN 007 Birandang Island, amounting to 85 people, using a sampling technique with total sampling. The results showed that the majority of respondents played video games> 2 hours (60%), the majority of respondents had abnormal vision as many as 44 people (51.8%). The results showed that there is a relationship between the duration of playing video games with visual acuity in school children at SDN 007 Birandang Island in 2017. It is hoped that the school can create a new program in the form of extracurricular activities that are made as attractive as possible to divert student activities from playing video games.

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Spectrum of Skin Diseases among School Aged Children in Jos North-Central Nigeria

Journal of BioMedical Research and Clinical Practice ◽

10.46912/2i2.2019108 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 102-106

Author(s):

R Adah ◽

G Adah ◽

H Abdu ◽

C John ◽

S Okolo

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

School Children ◽

Primary Schools ◽

School Health ◽

Skin Diseases ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Public And Private ◽

Multistage Sampling ◽

School Health Programme

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Attitude towards menstruation by female in-school adolescents: A comparative cross-sectional study in southwest Nigeria

10.21203/rs.3.rs-32272/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Olufemi Oludare Aluko ◽

Jireh Ngozi Udechukwu ◽

Oluwaseun Anthonia Loto ◽

Ayoola Oluwaniyi Orisawayi ◽

Grace Ojodomo Ojogba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Private Schools ◽

Negative Attitude ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Public And Private ◽

Menstrual Symptoms

Abstract Background: Menarche and menstruation are natural procedures in a girl’s transition to womanhood. Lack of awareness thereof, before menarche and stigmatizing menstrual hygiene management (MHM) experiences predominate in low resource economies and influences attitude. The study aims to determine and compare the attitude of adolescents attending public and private schools on menstruation and MHM in the study area.Methods: The cross-sectional study recruited 357 respondents, comprising of 177 and 180 female adolescents from public and private schools through a three-stage sampling technique. The study administered a validated, semi-structured questionnaire that was facilitated self-administered. Descriptive and inferential statistics presented results, while binary logistic regression identified predictors of attitude at Pά0.05.Results: Except for religion, other socio-demographic characteristics (age, class, ethnicity, whom adolescents’ lives with, highest education and wealth) were significantly different between public and private schools. However, respondents in public schools were older (15.4±1.75 years) when compared with those attending private schools (14.3±1.18 years). On attitude, negative feelings and openness scales were significantly different between respondents attending public and private schools, while those of positive feelings, menstrual symptoms, acceptance of menarche and living with menstruation were respectively similar at Pα0.05. Overall attitude scale indicated a higher negative rating (87.4) when compared with a positive score (12.6%). With a positive attitude as a reference, ethnicity was the only negative attitude predictor (Pα0.05).Conclusions: Adolescents attending public and private schools have negative attitudes toward menstruation and MHM. Therefore, awareness and puberty education through ethnic constructs, on menstruation and MHM before menarche is indispensable to improve their attitude.

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