1. Ocular Abnormalities among Deaf Students in Aden City, Yemen.
- Author
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Salem, Raga A. A., Basaleh, Saleh S., and Mohammed, Sawsan F.
- Subjects
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DEAF students , *SIGN language , *EDUCATION of the deaf - Abstract
Background The incidence of ophthalmologic abnormalities among the deaf children is high, compared with the hearing population of the same age. Objective The main objective of this study was to determine the ophthalmologic abnormalities among the students attending deaf and dumb's school in Aden city (Yemen). Methods This was a cross sectional descriptive study carried out from October 2012 to March 2013 in a school for the deaf and dumb in Aden (Yemen). All students who consented to participate in the study, were enrolled and subjected to a detailed ophthalmic examination, including visual acuity (VA), ocular motility, slit-lamp and fundus examination conducted by a qualified ophthalmologists. Results: A total of 138 deaf students (90 males, 48 females with a male to female ratio of (2:1) were included in this study. A high proportion of the students (92; 66.6%) were in the age group >14 years. Normal eye examination was found in (51; 36.9%), ocular abnormalities found in (87; 63.1%), with some students having multiple abnormalities. Refractive errors comprised the leading abnormality in 41.3%, retinal pigment epithelium patches was found in 10.9% and Warrdenburg syndrome in 5.8%. Twelve eyes 4.4% exhibited VA < 6/18). Conclusion Ocular abnormalities in deaf students are remarkably high which indicate the importance of early ophthalmologic examination in order to facilitate adequate integration of the deaf student as a useful and productive member in the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014