TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and Etiology of Amblyopia in Southern India
T2 - Results from Screening of School Children Aged 5-15 years
AU - Ganekal, Sunil
AU - Jhanji, Vishal
AU - Liang, Yuanbo
AU - Dorairaj, Syril
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Purpose: To determine the prevalence and etiology of amblyopia in school children. Methods: A total of 4020 school children aged between 5 and 15 years were screened in a population-based, cross-sectional study. Best corrected visual acuity and detailed ophthalmic evaluation were performed in all participants. Amblyopia associated with degraded visual input due to high refractive error was labeled ametropic amblyopia. Anisometropic amblyopia was diagnosed in participants with interocular refractive error difference ≥1 diopter. Strabismic amblyopia included that due to conflicting visual inputs between the eyes due to squint. Stimulus deprivation amblyopia was defined as amblyopia due to obstruction of the visual axis. Results: Prevalence of amblyopia was 1.1% (n=44). The number of boys with amblyopia (n=25, 57%) was slightly higher than the number of girls with amblyopia (n=19, 43%; p=0.6). A total of 28 (63.7%) children had mild to moderate amblyopia, whereas 16 (36.3%) had severe amblyopia. Underlying amblyogenic causes were ametropia (50%), anisometropia (40.9%), strabismus (6.8%), visual deprivation (4.5%) and combined causes (2.2%). No statistically significant difference was noted in the prevalence of amblyopia between rural (1.2%) and urban (0.9%) children (p=0.5). Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of amblyopia was 1.1% of the school children. Ametropia and anisometropia were the most common causes of amblyopia. We did not find any significant difference in amblyopia prevalence between rural and urban school children.
AB - Purpose: To determine the prevalence and etiology of amblyopia in school children. Methods: A total of 4020 school children aged between 5 and 15 years were screened in a population-based, cross-sectional study. Best corrected visual acuity and detailed ophthalmic evaluation were performed in all participants. Amblyopia associated with degraded visual input due to high refractive error was labeled ametropic amblyopia. Anisometropic amblyopia was diagnosed in participants with interocular refractive error difference ≥1 diopter. Strabismic amblyopia included that due to conflicting visual inputs between the eyes due to squint. Stimulus deprivation amblyopia was defined as amblyopia due to obstruction of the visual axis. Results: Prevalence of amblyopia was 1.1% (n=44). The number of boys with amblyopia (n=25, 57%) was slightly higher than the number of girls with amblyopia (n=19, 43%; p=0.6). A total of 28 (63.7%) children had mild to moderate amblyopia, whereas 16 (36.3%) had severe amblyopia. Underlying amblyogenic causes were ametropia (50%), anisometropia (40.9%), strabismus (6.8%), visual deprivation (4.5%) and combined causes (2.2%). No statistically significant difference was noted in the prevalence of amblyopia between rural (1.2%) and urban (0.9%) children (p=0.5). Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of amblyopia was 1.1% of the school children. Ametropia and anisometropia were the most common causes of amblyopia. We did not find any significant difference in amblyopia prevalence between rural and urban school children.
KW - Amblyopia
KW - Cross-sectional study
KW - Refractive error
KW - School children
KW - Strabismus
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U2 - 10.3109/09286586.2013.809772
DO - 10.3109/09286586.2013.809772
M3 - Article
C2 - 23865603
AN - SCOPUS:84880546734
SN - 0928-6586
VL - 20
SP - 228
EP - 231
JO - Ophthalmic Epidemiology
JF - Ophthalmic Epidemiology
IS - 4
ER -