الفهرس 
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Abstract
Objective:
To perform a screening for refractive errors among primary school children in Alexandria, Egypt.
Methods:
Measuring monocular uncorrected (VA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) with glasses for students wearing glasses using a Landolt broken ring self-illuminated chart at six meters in a semi-dark room.
Uncorrected VA will be recorded in both eyes for all children.
Children with visual impairment in either eye will be referred for:
Detailed slit lamp ophthalmic evaluation for gross media opacity, lid position, and pupillary light reflex.
Ocular motility examination in the six cardinal directions.
Ocular alignment will be evaluated using the Hirschberg, cover-uncover, and alternate-cover tests.
Cycloplegic refraction will be assessed by an autorefractometer.
Results:
The study involved 998 children, which accounted for 97.8% of the 1020 primary school children aged 6 to 12 years who were listed from three primary schools in Alexandria, Egypt.
There were 555 (55.6%) girls and 443 (44.4%) males among the participants. Their average age was 8.01 ± 2.5 years, and 389 people (or 40%) were in the 8–10 age range.
Out of the 998 children examined, 893 (89.3%) displayed an uncorrected visual acuity (VA) of 6/9 or better in both eyes. Eight children exhibited an uncorrected visual acuity of 6/9 in only one eye, while 97 (9.7%) had an uncorrected VA of 6/12 or lower in their better-seeing eye. Additionally, twenty children (2%) were using eyeglasses.
The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of refractive errors among children and the gender differences among them. The results showed that there were 43.3% boys and 56.7% girls with refractive errors. Moreover, the prevalence of refractive errors was highest among children aged 10 to 11 years (41.2%) and least common among those aged between 11 and 12 years (4.1%).
The results showed that there was a significant correlation between the refractive error and gender (Pearson’s χ2 = 4.17, p = 0.04) and age (Pearson’s χ2 = 13.13, p = 0.00). Myopia was found to be significantly associated with boys (p = 0.03) but not with age. Hyperopia and astigmatism were not significantly associated with age and gender (all p-values > 0.05).
Conclusion:
Screening of refractive errors is very important and should be carried out at the early age of school children for better results to be obtained.