Prvalence and Associated Factors of Visual Impairment among Preschool Children in Selected Kindergarten Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study.
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Date
2024-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: A child's vision provides valuable information about the surrounding world. The
eye problem in Ethiopia is among the major public health challenges. The prevalence of low
vision and blindness in Ethiopia is 3.7% and 1.6% respectively. The America Academy of
Pediatrics in its Recommendations for Preventive Pediatrics Health Care recommends for
Ophthalmological evaluation to be started from the age of 3 years up to 6 years. With much
visual impairment being due to either preventable or treatable causes, early detection or
correction of visual problems at an early age is important.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence and the associated factors of visual impairment among
preschool-age children in selected Kindergarten schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from
September 29, 2023- October 29, 2023.
Methods: Cross-Sectional Study was conducted at selected preschools located in Addis Ababa.
The total sample size was estimated to be 238. A multistage sampling technique was used to
select study participants. Data was collected by trained data collectors using a structured
questionnaire and physical examination. Data collected was checked for completeness, cleaned
and entered into SPSS version 25 for analysis. Descriptive Statistics was computed in frequency
tables. Correlation analysis and Binary Logistic regression was done to assess factors affecting
visual impairment. P value < 0.05 is taken as statistically significant.
Result: Among the 229 pre-school children who participated in this study 12 of them had visual
impairment making the prevalence of visual impairment in the selected kindergartens to be
5.28%. Maternal alcohol use during pregnancy (AOR=8.529, 95% CI (1.51-48.02)) and
abnormal pen light evaluation (AOR=18.932, 95% CI (3.85-92.89)) were found to be
significantly associated with visual impairment.
Conclusion: This study has shown that visual impairment is prevalent in pre-school children. It
has shown that screening at this age as per the recommendations of the AAP can be beneficial
with many of the visual impairments being due to either preventable or treatable causes,
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Keywords
Visual impairment, Preschool children, childhood blindness