Sociodemography and Distribution of Students Attending Schools for the Blind in Oyo State, Nigeria

Aim: To determine the distribution and sociodemographic classification of students attending schools for the blind in Oyo State, Nigeria.Method: This is a descriptive and interventional crosssectional study. A total sampling of all students in the four schools for the blind in Oyo State was carried out.Results: A total of 86 students from the four schools for the blind in Oyo State were included in the study. This comprised 2(2.3%) students from School for the Deaf and Blind, Eruwa; 22 (25.6%) from School for the Blind,Aperin Oniyere, Ibadan; 11 (12.8%) from School for the Blind, Doba, Oyo Town; and 51 (59.1%) from Ogbomosho Training Centre for the Blind, Ogbomosho. The mean age of the students was 19.4 years (SD=8.19).Thirty percent of the students were less than 16 years, 33.7% were between 17 and 19 years, 16.3% were between 20 and 24 years, 8.1% between 25 and 29 years, and 11.6% were above 30 years. There were more males (73.3%) than females (26.7%), with a male to female ratioof 3:1. Christians constituted 73.3% of the students while Muslims made up the remainder. Majority were from the Yoruba ethnic group (98.9%).Conclusion: More attention needs to be focussed on the sociodemography and distribution of students in schools for the blind in Nigeria as this will assist government and non governmental agencies in the planning and implementation of policies which will help to improve the lot of the students in the schools.Keywords: Distribution, sociodemography, students, schools for the blind, Oyo Stat

Vitamin A difficiency in Nigerian children

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a global problem of public health significance in many under-privileged communities of the world. No national data is available on the vitamin A status in Nigeria. A population-based, cross-sectional study, using a two-staged stratified cluster sampling method was conducted. The national prevalence of Xerophthalmia was 1.1% whilst the national prevalence of VAD using serum retinol < 20µg/dl (or 0.7 µmol/l) as cut-off was 28.1%; both values are indicative of a problem of public health significance. This paper evaluates the implications of vitamin A deficiency in Nigeria. There is an urgent need for the relevant authorities to pursue active and realistic policies in order to prevent further unnecessary blindness, morbidity and mortality in Nigerian children

Refractive Errors in Primary School Children in Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of refractive errors in primary school children in the Nigerian Army children school. Bonny Camp, Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 919 pupils from two primary schools (one private school and one public school) were screened. The schools and classes were selected using stratified random sampling methods. Refractive error was defined for this study as visual acuity of less than 6/9, or any visual acuity correctable with minimum of plus or minus 1.0 dioptre sphere, with or without minimum of plus or minus 0.5 dioptre cylinder to normal (6/5) vision. The prevalence of refractive error was 7.3% (95% CI = 5.5% - 9.1%). Hypermetropia predominated with 52.2 % of all errors and was common betwwen 6 and 15 years of age. Myopia was found in only 9% of children and was common in children less than 8 years of age. However, astigmatism was seen in 38.8% of children who above 13 years of age. More girls (56%) presented with refractive errors than boys (44%). It is advisable that pupils be tested whilst at primary school so that they can maximally utilize their visual endowment during learning processes at this rather formative stage of life. Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology Vol. 9, No.1 (August 2001): pp 10-14KEY WORDS: Refractive errors, primary school children

Barriers to Wearing Glasses Among Primary School Children in Lagos, Nigeria

The study was carried out to investigate barriers to uptake of wearing glasses amongst primary school children. A total of 919 pupils from two primary schools (one private school and one public school) were screened. The schools were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. All pupils whose visual acuity was equal to or less than 6/9 were refracted by the optometrist. These pupils were given referral letters inviting their parents to attend the eye clinic with them. The researcher using structured and open-ended questionnaires interviewed the pupils, parents and teachers. Focus group discussions were held with the pupils and teachers. Pupils were more aware of issues surrounding wearing of glasses than their parents. The main constraint preventing children from wearing glasses was the poor economic status of the parents. If glasses were made available to school children at a highly subsidized rate, or better still free, most of the excuses parents gave for not providing glasses for their children or allowing them to wear glasses would not be tenable. For those that genuinely had deep-rooted beliefs against wearing glasses, health education by teaching the benefits of wearing glasses could be of great help. We appeal to private eye care service deliverers to accommodate school children and to offer services to them at affordable costs including provision of glasses. It is recommended that funding for this exercise should be from non-governmental organisations, philanthropists, pharmaceutical companies and well-meaning individuals.Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology Vol. 9, No.1 (August 2001): pp 15-19KEY WORDS: Barriers, wearing glasses, primary school childre

Use of Bitot's Spot in screening for Vitamin A difficiency in Nigerian children

A total of 2,905 children between 6 and 71 months of age were selected using a 2 stage stratified sampling method and screened for xerophthalmia using World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria and vitamin a deficiency (VAD) using serum retinol < 20 µg/dl (low/marginal). Only 33 cases of xerophthalmia were seen representing a national prevalence of 1.1%. Only 8 children presented with Bitot’s spots (XIB) representing 0.3% of the total number of children screened for marginal VAD and 24.2% of xerophthalmic cases. Corneal xerosis (stage X2) was the commonest (0.8%) ocular presentation amongst the total number of children screened and also amongst cases of xerophthalmia where it was responsible for 66.7%. 3 children with VAD (serum retinol < 10 µg/dl) presented with Bitot’s spot, corneal xerosis and corneal scar respectively. All of these 3 children were severely malnourished and sick while one of them was moribund. No cases of conjunctival xerosis (X1A), corneal ulcer (X3A) or keratomalacia (X3B) were encountered in the study. Corneal scars (XS) attributable VAD was responsible to 0.1%. Stages X3A (corneal xerosis) and XS (corneal scars attributable toVAD) of xerophthalmia were above the WHO cut-off points. The national prevalence of marginal VAD defined as serum retinol was 28.1%. Despite its low prevalence, Bitot’s spot can be a useful screening tool particularly in a field survey involving a large population of children because of the characteristic cluster distribution of VAD. The implication of this is that a single case of Bitot’s spot points to a whole community at risk of VAD