Prevalence and Distribution of Refractive Amblyopia Among School Children in Owerri Municipal Council, Imo State, Nigeria

The prevalence and distribution of refractive amblyopia in Owerri Municipal Council, Imo State, Nigeria were investigated. One hundred and ninety two (192) primary school pupils and 192 secondary school students aged 6-19 years were examined in a cross-sectional population-based study. Examinations included corrected and uncorrected visual acuity, external examinations, direct ophthalmoscopy; cover test at far and near, cycloplegic, non-cycloplegicand subjective refractions. The diagnostic endpoint was a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of≤ 6/9 or 2-line inter-ocular optotype acuity difference. Among primary school children, a prevalence rate of 12% was recorded, refractive amblyopia was most prevalent (64.3%) among the 6-7 years age group, least prevalent among the 10-11 years age category (9.5%) and more males (56.5%) hadrefractive amblyopia than females (43.5%). At the secondary school level, 6.8% prevalence rate was observed, the 12-13 years age group had the highest prevalence (30.7%) and more males (61.5%) hadrefractive amblyopia than females (59.5%). The morbidity burden of refractive amblyopia among pupils and students did not correlate significantly with age and gender (p>0.05).Sustainable vision screening programmesare advocated for early detection and management of refractive amblyopia among school children.

Keywords: Refractive amblyopia, distribution, prevalence, schoolchildren, Owerri Municipal, Nigeria.