Abstract
Purpose :
To explore who our priorities are in providing spectacles for correction of refractive error in school children to achieve the goals of Vision 2020.
Methods :
Guangzhou Refractive Error Study in Children (RESC) was a population-based, cross-sectional study conducted in urban southern China. The examination included visual acuity (VA) measurements, evaluation of ocular alignment, cycloplegic refraction, anterior and posterior segment assessment. Different levels of visual impairment (VI) were defined as uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) < 20/40, 20/50 and 20/63 in the better eye.
Results :
A total of 3782 children aged 7 to 15 years were enrolled in our current analysis. The leading cause of VI among school-aged children was refractive error (97.5% to 97.8% at UCVA < 20/40, 20/50 and 20/63). The overall prevalence of refractive error, VI at different visual cutoff points were 46.2%, 23.2%, 18.4% and 13.6%, respectively. The spectacles coverage could be almost doubled to more than threefold if we prioritize providing spectacles to children with VI due to refractive error.
Conclusions :
Because of significant global burden of VI due to refractive error and limited resources, our priority is to provide spectacles to visually impaired children who are in need. This could be a strong monitoring strategy to realistically achieve the goal of elimination of avoidable blindness and visual impairment in the final stage of Vision 2020.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.