Myopia prevalence in a population-based childhood visual impairment study in North India - CHVI-2

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of myopia at the community level. METHODS: A population-based, cross-sectional study was planned in 40 clusters among children identified with subnormal vision in the urban community of Delhi. House-to-house visits were conducted for visual acuity screening of 20,000 children aged 0–15 years using age appropriate visual acuity charts. All the children with visual acuity of < 6/12 in any eye in the age group between 3 and 15 years and inability to follow light in age group 0–3 years were referred for detailed ophthalmic examination. RESULTS: A total of 13,572 (64.7%) children belonged to the age group of 6–15 years. Of these, a total of 507 (3.7%) were found to be having myopia (spherical equivalent of -0.50 DS or worse in one or both eyes) with positive association with higher age groups. CONCLUSION: The estimated prevalence of myopia is 3.7%; the proportion of uncorrected myopia was 45%, which reflects that refractive error services need to be improved further.