Objective: To study the prevalence of refractive errors in school children (12-17
years) of Tafila city.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in schools of Tafila city from
September 2004 to March 2005 for 1,647 school children which included 828 males
and 819 females.
Results: A refractive error was found in 25.32% students. Of these, 47% were
females and 53% were males. Myopia was found in 63.5%, Hypermetropia in 11.2%
and astigmatism 20.4% of students.
Conclusions: These data support the assumption that vision screening of school
children in developing countries could be useful in detecting correctable causes of
decreased vision especially refractive errors and in minimising long term visual
disability. (Rawal Med J 2008;33:85-87).
Key words: Myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, refraction.
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