ArticleBMC ophthalmology2020
The prevalence and causes of visual impairment among children in Kenya - the Kenya eye study.
Article in BMC ophthalmology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Childhood visual impairment causes and barriers to accessing eye care: A suggested approach for Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Epidemiological investigative report on ocular morbidity in children in rural Kenya.International journal of ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Prevalence of visual impairment and associated risk factors: a cross-sectional community-based study among children and adolescents in Ghana.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Prevalence and causes of vision impairment in East Africa: A narrative review.Journal of public health in Africa · 2025Review
- Prevalence of visual impairment and associated factors among primary school children in Ambo Town, Ethiopia, 2021.SAGE open medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence of visual impairment and estimation of refractive errors among school children in Kakamega, Kenya.International journal of ophthalmology · 2024Article
- The Prevalence of Severe Visual Impairment and Blindness Among Primary School Children in Arar, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
- The 100 most cited papers on amblyopia: a bibliographic perspective.International ophthalmology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVisual impairment is the partial or complete loss of vision in which the presenting visual acuity lie between 6/18-no perceptions of light. In Kenya, little attention has been directed towards children vision and causes of visual impairment. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the children population of Kenya.
methodsThis cross-sectional population-based study included 3400 (1800, 52.9% female) randomly selected children with a mean age of 12 ± 2 years (range 5-16 years). Visual acuity was taken using Snellens chart at 6 m. Anterior and posterior segment was assessed using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The World Health Organization definition formed the baseline for calculating the mean prevalence of visual impairment.
resultsVisual acuity measurements were available for 3240 (95.3%) participants. The mean prevalence of visual impairment based on pin-hole value was 1.7 ± 0.3% using World Health Organization definition. The prevalence of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity value was 2.4 ± 0.7% using the World Health Organization definition. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of visual impairment on pin-hole increased significantly with increasing age (odds ratio 1.230, P = .021) and uncorrected refractive error (odds ratio 0.834, P = .032) according to World Health Organization definition. Cases of uncorrected refractive error remained the major cause for presenting visual impairment. Causes of visual impairment due to presenting visual acuity were nystagmus (14%), amblyopia (24%) and uncorrected refractive error (62%).
conclusionThe prevalence of visual impairment in Kenya is associated with age. Uncorrected refractive error remains the major causes of visual impairment.
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