Research

This study in Telangana, South India, aimed to estimate the prevalence of vision impairment (VI), its risk factors, and ocular morbidity among school children. Over 774,000 children aged 4-15 years were screened in schools, with 1.16% found to have VI. The main cause of VI was uncorrected refractive errors, which accounted for 74.14% of cases. Risk factors for VI included older age, female gender, urban residence, and the presence of disabilities. The study showed that, in general, VI prevalence had decreased compared to previous data, possibly due to increased access to eye care services in the region. The study's strengths included a large sample size covering multiple districts, while limitations included incomplete data on ocular morbid conditions and the use of an indirect measure for disability. The findings suggest the need for interventions like school eye health promotion and annual vision screening to address uncorrected refractive errors among school children. Additionally, improving access to secondary and tertiary eye care services is essential to ensure timely intervention for VI in these regions.