Prevalence of Refractive Errors and Its Association with Academic Performance Among School Children

Abstract

Background: Refractive errors (REs) are frequently occurring, and correctable visual abnormality in school age children. Refractive errors may be related to problems in visually demanding academic tasks and school achievement. Objective: To find the prevalence of REs among school children in Central Punjab and its correlation with their academic performance. Methods: In this cross- sectional study 96 school age children 8- 14 years were randomly recruited from various primary and secondary schools from Central Punjab during August 2025 to January 2026. Distance visual acuity was assessed and children whose visual acuity 6/9 or worse were subjected to non-cycloplegic autorefraction, followed by subjective correction. Academic performance was calculated based on average cumulative percentages of school examination. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t- test, Karl Pearson correlation and chi square test were applied. Results: Refractive errors was found in 31/96 children (32.3%; 95%CI, 23.8-42.2) with 18 of them (18.8%) was suffering from myopia, 9 (9.4%) had astigmatism and 4 (4.2%) with hyperopic errors. Mean academic score was significantly lower among students with REs ( 62.8 +- 10.1% ) compared to emmetropic students ( 75.5+-10.4% ); mean difference is 12.70%, 95%CI, 8.25 - 17.15 percentage, p<0.001 with effect size 'g' 1.22. Conclusion: Refractive errors were prevalent among school children study group and are correlated with poor academic performance. Recommendations- Consideration to visual status should be made when investigating the health and education issues of school age children