Screening of Eye Affections in Kindergarten Children. Intervention Strategy

Abstract

Introduction: when vision is diminished or absent, it provokes handicaps in children, and so learning and overall development disorders.
Objective: to determine eye affections in Kindergarten children.
Material and method: it was carried out a longitudinal applied and intervention research by active screening during the years 2010 and 2011. The universe consisted of the 367 children of ages from 1 to 6 years from the Kindergartens belonging to Turcios Lima Outpatient Clinic of Pinar del Río. The sample was composed by 42 children, made by intentional sampling. A structure survey was made together with an eye clinical record to the children within the inclusion criteria. The gathered data was processed, using the system Epi Info, calculation the percentage absolute and relative frequencies, the media and standard deviation, and also the chi-square test at 95% of accuracy.
Results: the prevalence of children with eye affections was 11.4%, diagnosed firstly the 61.9%, regardless of age and sex. Mildly one-sided eye affection prevailed, caused by refractive disorders. As the parents school level increased, so did their knowledge on eye diseases.
Conclusions: there is a record of eye affections in screened children, despite the eye examination made on admission to these institutions. The ophthalmologist's and the health team´s work contributes to the eradication of amblyopia, and so with the life quality, and an adequate learning and intellective capacity.