Prevalence of ocular disease in Tibetan primary school children

Background: There is very little information on the prevalence of ocular diseases in Tibetan children who live in the remote areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of ocular diseases in primary school children between 6 and 14 years of age in the rural Tibetan area of Maqin County, China. Methods: All the children from 8 Tibetan township primary schools in Maqin County underwent a full eye examination by a team of 6 senior ophthalmologists. Results: A total of 1084 children were included in this investigation, of which 199 (18.36%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 16.05-20.66) had ocular morbidity. Of these, 98 were male and 101 were female. Refractive errors were found in 11.07% (95% CI 9.20-12.94), strabismus in 2.49% (95% CI 1.56-3.42), corneal leukoma in 1.20% (95% CI 0.55-1.85),amblyopia in 1.02% (95% CI 0.42-1.61), and vernal conjunctivitis in 0.65% (95% CI 0.17-1.12). Monocular blindness was seen in 16 cases (1.48%, 95% CI 0.76-2.19). Trauma was the most common cause of blindness. Interpretation: The prevalence of eye disorder is high among school-aged Tibetan children in Maqin County, representing an important health problem. More effort should be devoted to the study, prevention, and treatment of these diseases. Effective strategies are needed to reduce the incidence of visual impairment in this population of children.