1. Community outreach: An indicator for assessment of prevalence of amblyopia
- Author
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Harsha Bhattacharjee, Anshul Singh, Saurabh Deshmukh, Damaris Magdalene, Mitalee Choudhury, Prabhjot Kaur Multani, and Krati Gupta
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pediatrics ,Visual acuity ,genetic structures ,Adolescent ,Visual impairment ,Prevalence ,Visual Acuity ,India ,Eye care ,Amblyopia ,screening program ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Vision Screening ,lcsh:Ophthalmology ,Epidemiology ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Prospective Studies ,Child ,community ophthalmology ,Schools ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Infant ,pediatric ophthalmology ,Corneal topography ,eye diseases ,Community-Institutional Relations ,Ophthalmology ,lcsh:RE1-994 ,population-based study ,Child, Preschool ,Community health ,030221 ophthalmology & optometry ,Pediatric ophthalmology ,Female ,Original Article ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Purpose: To study the prevalence, determine the magnitude, and cause of amblyopia among the children aged 6 months to 16 years in Kamrup district, Assam, India. Methods: Among a total of 39,651 children between 6 months and 16 years of age, door-to-door screening was conducted by trained workers. For children above 5 years of age who failed to read the 6/9 line, camps were conducted in the nearby schools. Children below 5 years of age were directly referred to the tertiary eye care institute. After visual acuity assessment at the institute, cycloplegic refraction and complete ophthalmic examination were done to rule out other causes of diminution of vision. Axial length measurement and corneal topography were performed in children with high refractive errors. Results: Of the total 39,651 children screened, 469 were diagnosed to have amblyopia at the camp and 223 were diagnosed at the institute. The prevalence of amblyopia was 1.75%. Amblyopia was more common among the males (52.50%) as compared to females. Maximum number of patients were found in the age group of 11โ16 (63.58%). Refractive amblyopia was found to be the most common cause of amblyopia (45.29%). In children below 5 years, deprivation amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia were more common. Conclusion: Awareness of amblyopia among the parents is essential for early detection and treatment of the disease, which will, in turn, reduce the burden of childhood visual impairment.
- Published
- 2018