Prevalence of Astigmatism in Children Visiting Headache Clinic at a Hospital in Rural Karnataka

Introduction

Astigmatism is a prevalent refractive error that affects a significant portion of the population. It greatly affects children’s visual acuity and learning process and thus the future quality of life. It is characterized by an irregular curvature of the cornea or lens, causing the light to focus on multiple points on the retina, unlike on a single focal point in normal cases, resulting in blurred or distorted vision at all distances. According to the World Health Organization, uncorrected refractive errors, including astigmatism, are among the leading causes of visual impairment worldwide. This research paper aimed to estimate the prevalence of astigmatism among children visiting the Headache Clinic at a Tertiary hospital, Akash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Devanahalli, Bangalore

Materials and Methods

In this cross sectional study, the visual acuity of 300 children who visited the eye clinic was measured using a LogMAR (Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution) chart. The children with reduced visual acuity were checked for astigmatism using a streak retinoscope. Monocular visual acuity was determined with current spectacle prescription if any. Visual acuity using a pinhole was assessed in eyes with presenting visual acuity lesser than 20/20 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR], 0.0). Streak retinoscopy and subjective refraction were performed in all subjects. Astigmatism was defined as a cylindrical error more than - 0.50 diopter cylinder (DC) difference between the two axis. Significance was assigned at P <0.05 level for all parameters. Data analysis was performed on computer, using MS excel and SPSS tools.

Results

The age group of the randomly enrolled 300 children ranged from 5 to 16 years. However, children in the age group of 9 to 11 years were not available in this study (Table 1).

Female students were 174 (58%) and male students were 126 (48%). Astigmatism was recorded in 30 students of which, 18 (10.34%) were girl students and 12 (9.52%) were boys (Table 2). Other eye disorders were found in 23 (13.22%) female students and 18 (14.29%) male students. The overall prevalence of astigmatism was 10% (Table 2).

In female students, the frequency of astigmatism was comparatively higher in the 7, 14 and 15-year age groups. In males, the frequency was higher at 6 and 14 years (Table 3). To assess the possible correlation between the age and astigmatism, spearman’s rho correlation analysis was performed (Table 4). The spearman rho value indicated that there was no correlation between age and astigmatism in either females or males, in the present study. To analyse possible comparison of the pattern of astigmatism between males and females, ANOVA was performed. The P=0.4322 was recorded indicating no distinct difference in the pattern of astigmatism between female and male children.

Discussion

Many investigators worked on astigmatism both in India and world-wide (Table 5).^1-29 In India, the prevalence rate reported by various researchers ranged from 0.16% to 35.23%.^1-21 In other parts of the globe, the reported prevalence ranged from 0.48% to 33.60%.^22-29 These results were reported in various types of studies with varying sample sizes. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken at a tertiary health centre with a sample size of 300 children who visited the weekly Headache clinic.

Conclusion

The astigmatism prevalence among children who visited tertiary Headache clinic in rural Karnataka was recorded as 10% in the present study.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil

Conflicts of interest

Nil

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the Head, Department of Ophthalmology, and the Principal, Akash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Devanahalli, Bangalore- 562110, for their encouragement and facility provided for the research study.