Abstract:
Background: Visual impairment (VI) in children is a public health issue, especially in resource limited settings. Approximately 19 million children are estimated to be visually impaired
worldwide and 90% of people with visual impairment have either preventable or treatable cause
with cost- effective intervention.
Objective: To assess magnitude of visual impairment and associated factors among public
primary school children in Nifas Silk Lafto Sub city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,2023/2024.
Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 9 to June 25, 2024, in
Nifas Silk Lafto Sub City, involving 500 public primary school children selected through simple
random sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered by trained
nurses, who also measured visual acuity with Snellen charts. The data were entered into Epi-info
version 7 and analyzed using SPSS version 27.0, employing descriptive statistics and logistic
regression to assess associations between visual impairment and various factors. Variables with a
p-value < 0.25 in bivariable analysis were included in the multivariable logistic regression
model. Significant associations were identified using adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95%
confidence intervals (CI) at p-value < 0.05. The model's fitness was evaluated using the Hosmer–
Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic.
Results : A total of five hundred primary schoolchildren attending grades 1–8 were examined
and included in this study making up a response rate of 98.4%. Out of the 492 children, 254
(51.6) were male and nearly half the study participants 249(50.6%) were attending a class
between grades 1 upto 4. The mean age of the students in this study was 12.47 years (SD = 2.86
years).The magnitude of Visual Impairment from this study was 7.9%( 95% CI 5.7%-10.6%)
Conclusion : The magnitude of Visual impairment in the study area was high. Family awareness
of the status of their child's vision impairments and Students with mobile exposure were strongly
associated with vision impairment. Refractive errors are the primarly the leading causes of the
problem. Students with mobile exposure had increased risk of acquiring visual impairments
compared to those without mobile exposure . Inadequate parental/guardian awareness of Visual
Impairment has been associated to Visual Impairment in children.
