A survey on refractive error and strabismus among children in a school at Aligarh

An ophthalmic survey of 310 school going children in the age group of 4-12 years was done. 41 children (13.2%) were found to have a vision of less than 6/6 in one or both eyes. Myopia of 0.5 D or more and hyperopia of +2 D or more or astigmatism of 1 D or more in one or both eyes were seen in 74 children (22.9%). There was a tendency for a decrease in hyperopia and an increase in myopia with advancing age. Astigmatic error of 1 D or less was seen in 12 eyes (1.93%) and anisometropia of more than 1 D was present in 11 cases (3.5%). Hypertropia was more in female children whereas myopia had a nearly equal distribution in both sexes. There was heterophoria and manifest strabismus which showed a gradual increase with advancing age. This study was compared to few other studies undertaken in the past.