Use of the World Health Organization primary eye care protocol to investigate the ocular health status of school children in Rwanda.

Autor: Mathenge WC; Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology, Kigali, Rwanda. Electronic address: ciku.mathenge@riio.org., Bello NR; Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., Hess OM; Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California., Dangou JM; World Health Organisation, Africa Regional Office, Brazzaville, Congo., Nkurikiye J; Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology, Kigali, Rwanda; Rwanda Military Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda., Levin AV; Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Flaum Eye Institute, Rochester, New York.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus [J AAPOS] 2023 Feb; Vol. 27 (1), pp. 16.e1-16.e6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 14.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2022.10.008
Abstrakt: Purpose: To assess the ocular health status of primary and secondary schoolchildren in Rwanda and to explore the use of the World Health Organization (WHO) primary eye care screening protocol.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional population-based study across 19 schools in Rwanda. Initial screening was carried out using the WHO screening protocol, whereby visual acuity was measured using a tumbling E Snellen chart (6/60 and 6/12). Abnormal ocular features were identified using a flashlight and history against a checklist. All children with abnormal screening were referred to an on-site ophthalmic clinic for full examination. Those who could not be treated on-site were referred to an ophthalmologist at a hospital for specialist care.
Results: A total of 24,892 children underwent ocular health screening. Of those, 1,865 (7.5%) failed the primary screening; 658 (2.6%) were false positives (35.3% of those who failed screening), and 1,207 (4.8%) true positives. The most frequently observed ocular diagnoses were allergic conjunctivitis (3.11%) and strabismus (0.26%). Refractive error was very rare (0.18%).
Conclusions: The WHO primary eye care curriculum provides existing health personnel with an approach to school-based vision screening that uses a standardized checklist and low-cost resources. In our study cohort, results indicated a low frequency of refractive error; the overwhelming majority of ocular problems could be identified on visual inspection.
(Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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