Research
The Prevalence of Uncorrected Refractive Errors in Adolescents Incarcerated in a Youth Detention Center
The purpose of this study was to determine the number of residents requiring corrective lenses in a youth detention center for juveniles from 12 to 18 years old over a 2-year period.
A greater number of adolescents incarcerated for criminal activity in a detention center had uncorrected refractive errors (34.87 %) as compared to a comparable population in the public school system (22 %).
The prevalence of significant refractive errors among incarcerated adolescents in this study is significantly higher than has been reported previously.
The current study found a refractive error rate of almost 35 %.
This difference can be explained by a number of factors in their social environments and identifies an area for potential intervention to reduce antisocial behavior in this population.