Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9570
ISSN: 2155-9570
Indira Madhavan, Uma Mageswari Batumalai, Fakruddin Shamseer Barodawala and Azrin Esmady Ariffin
SEGi University, Malaysia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol
Refractive error is one the universal causes of visual impairment among children that aff ect a large percentage of the population worldwide. It is also known that uncorrected refractive error can lead to problem in learning to read which might eventually aff ects the academic performance in later stage of life. Hence, understanding the prevalence of refractive error is important to prevent academic problems. However, studies on prevalence of refractive error in Malaysia are scarce. Th erefore, this study is believed to provide useful data on current refractive error among primary school Indian children in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 2275 Indian schoolchildren 7-11 years of age were selected for this cross-sectional study out of which 1462 children were examined, which gave a participation rate of 64.3 %. Th e subjects consisted of 733 (50.1%) boys and 729 (49.9%) girls. Non-cycloplegic autorefraction was used to determine refractive error. Myopia was defi ned as a spherical equivalent (SE) of 1.00 dioptre (D) or worse, hyperopia as a SE of +0.50 D or more, and astigmatism as cylindrical power equal to or worse than 0.75 DC. Th e prevalence rates of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism were 31.0%, 7.8% and 46.8% respectively and were all not related to gender. Th e prevalence of anisometropia and antimetropia were 0.5% and 7.3%, respectively. Myopia was the most common type of refractive error found in this population. It is evident that Kuala Lumpur Indian school children have a substantially lower prevalence of hyperopia than do Western children, which could refl ect trends for earlier development of myopia in them.