Research
Effectiveness of Using Teachers to Screen Eyes of School-Going Children in Satna District of Madhya Pradesh, India
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teachers in a vision screening program for grade five to 12 children school in north central India.
Teachers screened 68,833 of the 77,778 enrolled children, thus achieving coverage of 88.50%.
3,822 children (4.91%) with eye defects were referred for further examination by the ophthalmic assistant.
Myopia, Vitamin A deficiency and strabismus were the most common eye problems identified by the ophthalmic assistant.
Spectacles were prescribed to 39.47% of children confirmed with eye defects.
Teachers played a significant role in screening children and effectively reduced the workload of ophthalmic assistants.