The prevalence and pattern of visual impairment and blindness among Primary School pupils in Kitale Municipality, Kenya
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Date
2013-12Author
Barasa, E
Otieno, SA
Karimurio, J
Type
en_USLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: To investigate the prevalence and pattern of Visual Impairment(VI) and blindness among
primary school pupils in Kitale Municipality from February to March 2009.
Design: Cross-sectional school based study.
Setting: Primary Schools in Kitale Municipality, Kenya.
Subjects: Seven hundred and seventy six pupils of the age range 5-22 and mean of 10.81 years from
standard one to standard eight.
Results: The prevalence of visual impairment was 4.77% and 0% for severe visual impairment while that
of blindness was 0.13%. Girls contributed 35.14% of cases of visual impairment while boys contributed
64.86%. The age group most affected was 11-15 years (59.46%). There were higher chances of
developing VI with increasing age. Public schools contributed 81.08% of cases of visual impairment
while for private schools, it was 18.92%. Two zones (Grassland and Bidii) with peri-urban characteristics
contributed 75.68% of VI cases while two purely urban zones (Milimani and Bondeni) contributed
24.31%. The only case of blindness was due to retinal disease in a standard one female pupil aged 8
years, in a public school within Bondeni zone. The leading cause of visual impairment was refractive
error (81.08%). Other causes included albinism, corneal disease, disease of whole globe and strabismus.
Conclusions: Visual impairment and blindness among primary school pupils in Kitale municipality is of
public health importance.
Recommendations: There is need to carry out annual school eye screening by relevant ministries in
order to enhance early detection and management of eye problems among primary school pupils
URI
http://www.coecsa.org/ojs-2.4.2/index.php/JOECSA/article/view/81http://hdl.handle.net/11295/80240
Citation
Barasa, E., Otieno, S. A., & Karimurio, J. (2015). The prevalence and pattern of visual impairment and blindness among Primary School pupils in Kitale Municipality, Kenya. JOECSA, 17(2).Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10385]