Abstract

Background: Refractive error—at all ages—is one of the most common causes of visual impairment around the world and the second leading cause of treatable blindness. Most of children with uncorrected refractive error are asymptomatic and thus screening helps in early detection and timely interventions.
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of eye problems and the related factors among male students in primary schools in Jeddah.
Materials and Methods: A multistage cluster sampling technique was adopted where three schools were randomly chosen from three districts of the city (poor, medium, and wealthy districts). A specially designed questionnaire was filled by the students followed by their eye examination at school. Result: The chief complaints were eye itching (8.1%) and lacrimation (6.6%). The eye examination findings were allergic conjunctivitis (14%). From a total of 184 students, 23.9% were suffering of visual acuity less than 6/6 in either one or both eyes. Logistic regression models showed that the presence of a vision problem in father and/or mother was a highly signi- ficant predicting factor (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.2) followed by the low-standard school district (adjusted OR = 1.8). Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence of eye problems and refractive errors among primary schoolboys in Jeddah is high and it presents a challenge to family and public health. This situation necessitates the implementation of repeated regular vision screening programs in primary schools and preferably in the preschool age also.