Ocular Conditions among School Children in the Sunyani Municipality in Ghana

The study aimed at determining the commonest ocular conditions among basic school children and their prevalence in the Sunyani Municipality, Ghana. The study also sought to assess the level of awareness of school teachers on ocular conditions affecting the school children. A total of 400 students and 50 teachers were randomly selected from 5 different basic schools in the Sunyani Municipality. Data was collected through vision screening of the school children and in-depth questionnaires for school teachers. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used for data analysis. Out of the 400 participants, 227 (57%) were females and 173 (43%) were females. The prevalence of ocular conditions detected was 51.25%. Refractive errors accounted for 25.25% with hyperopia being the highest (18.5%), followed by astigmatism (4.5%) and myopia being the least prevalent (2.5%). The prevalence of ocular pathologies among the pupils screened was 26.0% with the commonest condition being allergic conjunctivitis (18.5%). Only one pupil (0.1%) suffered from low vision while none was blind in both eyes. The prevalence of ocular conditions amongst the school children was very high and the rate of eye clinic attendance was also low among them. These findings warrant pragmatic intervention to alleviate the burden of ocular conditions among the school children.

Keywords: School children, teachers, ocular morbidity, refractive errors, awareness.