Prevalence of Hearing and Visionabnormalities in School Children in Udupi District Karnataka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37506/mlu.v20i4.2044Keywords:
Preschool children, vision, Hearing, screening.Abstract
Background: Preschool screenings are recommended for early detection and treatment of childhood visual
and hearing disorders.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of hearing abnormalities, visual impairments and correlate its
association with consumption of vitamin A rich food and usage of electronic devices in school going children
in Udupi district, Karnataka
Method: Rinnie’s test and Weber’s tests was done by using tuning fork method for hearing, Snellen’s chart
for distant vision, Jager’s chart for near vision, Ishiara chart for colour vision and confrontation test for field
of vision. Questionnaires were used to get the detailed informations regarding consumption of vitamin A
rich food and usage of electronic devices,
Result: Screening test for hearing and vision conducted on 250 students. There was no significant hearing
abnormality was found out of 250 students, there was hearing impairment in 1.6% of the children due to
ear infection. In vision screening,12.8% of children having visual abnormalities like myopia, hyperopia and
color blindness. The total prevalence of vision abnormalities was 32(12.8%) 95% CI: 11.924-13.676.
Conclusion: Vision and hearing screening is very essential in school children to recognize the visual
impairments or hearing abnormalities at earliest which will be helpful for further treatment. This study
should be conducted in large sample size.
