Dr. Veer Singh, S18621, Dr. Malik K P S, Dr. Virendra Kumar Malik
AIM: To evaluate prevalence and to make a comparison between the ocular morbidity pattern in school going children of urban and rural areas of Uttar Pradesh West.
METHODOLOGY: A school based, cross-sectional, completely randomized stratified multistage design was adopted to examine a total of 4838 students (2271 males and 2567 females) aged 5 to 15 years in urban and rural schools of Uttar Pradesh West. Statistical analysis was done using Epi Info Software and t-test.
RESULTS: Prevalence of ocular morbidity was 29.35% (28.65% urban, 30.05% rural) with Refractive error (17.36%), Convergence insufficiency (2.79%), Blepharitis (2.11%), Vitamin A deficiency (2.09%), Allergic conjunctivitis (1.92%), Bacterial conjunctivitis (0.95%), Amblyopia (0.41%), Stye (0.31%) and Squint (0.27%).
CONCLUSION: An increase in ocular morbidity with age was observed and Vitamin A deficiency showed a significantly higher prevalence (p<0.05%) in the rural (3.03%) as compared to the urban sector (1.15%).