Prevalence of Ocular Morbidity and Associated Factors Among Hearing Impaired Children at Embangweni School of the Deaf in Mzimba District, Malawi

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the prevalence of ocular morbidities and associated factors among hearing-impaired (HI) students at the Embangweni School for the Deaf in Mzimba, Malawi.

Methods

This was an institutional cross-sectional study of HI students at Embangweni School for the Deaf. A series of optometric and audiometric tests was performed, and the results were exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science for statistical analysis (SPSS) version 25. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to assess correlations and associations between variables. A P-value less significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results

A total of 147 children comprising of 76 (51.7%) males and 71 (48.3%) females participated in this study. The prevalence of ocular conditions and visual impairment was 39 (26.5%) and 2 (1.4%), respectively. The Prevalence of eye disease was significantly associated with male sex (p=0.02) and type of HI (p=0.031). Allergic conjunctivitis 36 (24.5%) was the most common ocular condition, followed by refractive error 28 (19%).

Conclusion

The prevalence of ocular conditions among HI students was significant and associated with sex. Regular school vision screening of students with HI is highly advised to reduce the burden of visual impairment.

Plain Language Summary

Hearing impairment places a great burden on the sufferers. Ocular conditions among this population further disadvantages them in terms of education and personal development. The current study evaluated the prevalence of ocular conditions among school children at the Embangweni School of the Deaf. We observed that there is high prevalence of eye conditions among this population which was more prevalent among the males. Conjunctivitis was the most prevalent ocular condition. There is a great need for regular vision screening for this population for early detection and management of ocular conditions among them.

Keywords:

• child health
• hearing impairment
• ocular morbidity
• special education
• vision screening
• visual impairment

Institutional Board Statement

Ethics was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Research and Ethics Committee of the Mzuzu University Malawi (FOHS/REC/21/107). Permission to conduct the study in the school was obtained from the Ministry of Education and principal of the school. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants and their parents or care givers. Assent was obtained from children less than 18 years. Information about the study and reason to participate in the study was explained to all participants prior to data collection. Participants were informed about their right to discontinue or refuse to participate in the study at any time or stage. The study adhered to the declaration of Helsinki.

Data Sharing Statement

The dataset is available upon request from the corresponding authors.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

The data collection for this study was funded by outreach funds from Canadian Vision Care (CVC).