Abstract

INTRODUCTION

This is a descriptive study conducted to identify visual impairments or eye conditions in students in a primary school at the city center of Aydın and in a primary school in a village of Aydın.

METHODS

Study data were collected in a primary school at the city center of Aydın and in a primary school in a village of the same city in the autumn and spring terms of the academic year of 2015 - 2016. The population of the study consisted of 2583 students. As there were students who were absent during the days the study was conducted, we could not access to the entire population. The study sample consisted of 2531 students. For data collection, "Socio-demographics Data Form", "Refractive Error Evaluation Form," "Crossed Eyes Evaluation Form" and "Colour Blindness Evaluation Form" developed by the researchers were used. Data were analysed using the SPSS 15.0 statistics program and evaluated with percentage, arithmetic mean and chi square tests.

RESULTS

In this study, 10.9% of the students were in pre-school, 19.8% of the students were in first year, 16.2% were in second year, 32.8% were in third year and 20.5% were in fourth year. 49% of the students were female and 51% were male. The mean age of the students was 7.9 ±1.42 ( range 4-11). 9.1% of the students had a refractive error, 3.3% had strabismus (crossed-eyes), 3% had colour blindness in the study and 9.5% used prescription glasses and 77.8% had no trouble seeing the whiteboard in the class. 65.5% of the students reported that they had no visual problem when they read or did their homework. It was found that as students' ages increased, the percentage of visual impairments among them also increased. There was a statistically significant difference between school years (grades) for colour blindness and refractive error (p<0.05) but no such difference was found for crossed-eyes (p>0.05) There was a statistically significant relationship between the gender of students and colour blindness (p<0.05).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

In this study, visual impairments such as refractive error, colour blindness and crossed eyes were seen in the students attending to primary schools. Causes of avoidable blindness are those that lead to visual impairment in children.