Myopia Frequency of Myopia in Rural and Urban School Going Children

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed at finding the frequency of myopia in rural and urban primary and secondary school going children from 6 to 18 years of age. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from January 2018 to August 2018 in a rural area of Sahiyawala and in urban area of Chiniot. A total of 1000 subjects of both gender and ages ranging between 6 to 18 years were included through a stratified random sampling technique. The sample was considered of 500 subjects in rural and 500 subjects in urban areas. Subjects of 1st class to 10th class were selected. Data was collected using a proforma and retinoscope was done for diagnosis of, Myopia. Data was analyzed by using Chi-square test in SPSS 20 software. Results: The frequency of myopia was higher in urban area 41.6% then rural area 28% (P 0.00). Other findings include, (42.6%) in urban and (56.6%) in rural area were emmetropic, and with other types of refractive errors were (15.8%) in urban and (15.4%) in rural. It was more among female 39.6% than male 30% (P 0.00). It was more in high level 35.5% than primary 34.8% and middle 34.0% (P 0.04). Conclusion: The myopia frequency is higher in urban children due to environmental factors and intense near work and also myopia is higher among female because they spend more time in reading and writing and reduce outdoor activities as compared to male.