Vision Impairment among Children in South India

This study aimed to provide the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness among 250,000 school children aged 6 to 17, screened in Tamil Nadu, India. Two hundred fifty thousand fifty-two children were screened in 1047 schools, and the prevalence of vision impairment, blindness, and low vision in the Kanchipuram district was 3.83%, 0.01%, and 0.19%, respectively. The primary causes of vision impairment, blindness, and low vision were refractive errors (3.05%), high myopia (0.002%), and refractive amblyopia (0.04%), respectively. This large-scale school eye screening reports a comparatively lower prevalence of vision impairment, blindness, and low vision compared to other studies conducted worldwide. Although the overall prevalence is relatively low, the causes are primarily refractive. Urban, female, private school-going children aged 11–17 are at higher risk.