Abstract

Introduction: Ocular problems are among the most prevalent disabilities in this age range, which is a sensitive time for the development of the visual system. Early-life visual impairment may have a negative impact on learning capacity and school adjustments, as well as later on in the person's career, socioeconomic situation, and personal life.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine how reliable school instructors are when it comes to the vision screening of younger school students and to investigate the pattern of vision issues.
Methods: In this study, 5,938 school children ages 3 to 8 years old were screened for vision and ocular diseases by professional school teachers. The study was a cross sectional design. In order to evaluate the dependability of the instructors in terms of vision screening and the detection of ocular problems in these youngsters, cross screenings were performed on the children by trained specialists. Researchers looked into the relationship between visual acuity, ametropia, and ocular diseases.
Results: The vision screening that was performed by school instructors had a sensitivity of 69.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]) and a specificity of 95.3% respectively. Positive predictive value came in at 83.5%, while negative predictive value came in at 89.8%. The kappa statistic was calculated to be 0.68.
Conclusion: Teachers in elementary and secondary schools are in a position to efficiently screen younger students for vision evaluation and ocular problems.