Prevalence And Associated Factors Of Visual Impairment Among School-Age Children In Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics Of Study Participants (n=601)

	Frequency	Percentage
Age, years
6–9	45	7.5
10–13	258	42.9
14–18	298	49.6
Sex		50.3
Male	302
Female	299	49.7
Educational status of household head
Illiterate	21	3.4
Can read and write	104	17.3
Primary school	174	29
Secondary school	158	26.3
College and above	144	24
Educational level of the child
Kindergarten	9	1.5
Primary school	451	75
Secondary school and above	141	23.5
Religion
Orthodox	510	84.9
Muslim	67	11.1
Protestant	23	3.8
Others*	1	0.2
Ethnicity
Amhara	564	93.8
Tigre	15	2.5
Agew	14	2.3
Oromo	6	1.00
Others**	2	0.30

Notes: *Jehovah's witness; **Dire Dawa and Benishangul-Gumuz.

Table 2 Children’s Birth History (n=601)

	Frequency	Percentage
Gestational age
<37 weeks	133	22.1
≥37 weeks	468	77.9
Mode of delivery
SVD	542	90.2
Cesarean section	59	9.8
Admission to NICU
Yes	164	27.3
No	437	72.7
Exclusive breast-feeding
Yes	492	81.9
No	109	18.1

Abbreviations: SVD, spontaneous vaginal delivery; NICU, neonatal intensive-care unit.

Table 3 Maternal History During Pregnancy (n=601)

	Frequency	Percentage
Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy
Yes	17	2.8
No	584	97.2
Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy
Yes	0
No	601	100
Systemic illness during pregnancy
Yes*	62	10.3
No	590	89.7

Note: *Hypertension, diabetes, malaria, pneumonia, syphilis.

Table 4 Socioeconomic And Behavioral Factors (n=601)

	Frequency	Percentage
Family monthly income, ETB
<2,000	140	23.3
2,001–5,000	283	47.1
5,001–10,000	129	21.5
10,001–15,000	22	4.5
>15,000	27	3.7
Family size
<4	272	45.3
4–6	240	39.9
>6	89	14.9
School type
Public	344	57.2
Private	257	42.8
Medical visits (for children)
Yes	282	46.9
No	319	53.1
Frequency of medical visits (for children)
Yearly	92	15.3
Symptoms seen and when traumatized	190	31.6
History of television exposure
Yes	593	98.6
No	8	1.40
Duration of television exposure
<2 hours/day	142	23.6
2–4 hours/day	253	42.1
>4 hours/day	198	32.9
Television-exposure distance
<2 m	194	32.3
2–4 m	231	38.3
>4 m	168	28.0
Duration of mobile/computer exposure
<2 hours/day	260	43.3
2–4 hours/day	201	33.4
>4 hours/day	97	16.1

Abbreviation: ETB, Ethiopian birr.

Table 5 Prevalence Of VI In Terms Of Age And Sex (n=601)

Age, Years	Visual Impairment		No VI
	Male	Female	Male	Female
6–9	0	3	20	22
10–13	18	10	119	111
14–18	9	12	136	141

Figure 1 Television exposure distance characteristics of study participants in Bahir Dar, northwest Ethiopia, June 2018 (n=601).

Table 6 Bivariate And Multivariate Logistic Regression Output Of Factors Associated With VI (n=601)

	Visual Impairment		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
	Yes (n=52)	No (n=549)
Age, years
6–9	7	42	1.00	1.00
10–13	24	230	1.59 (0.3–3.371)	0.21 (0.05–0.89)
14–18	21	277	2.19 (0.34–1.13)	0.50 (0.20–1.04)
Sex
Male	27	275	0.92 (0.60–1.90)
Female	25	274	1.00
Educational level of household head
Illiterate	7	18	6.61 (0.68–11.66)
Can read and write	8	95	1.71 (0.44–6.54)
Primary school	15	156	1.44 (0.38–5.38)
Secondary school	14	144	1.75 (0.43–7.14)
College and above	8	136	1.00
Maternal illness during pregnancy
Yes	8	107	1.33 (1.82–22.8)
No	44	442	1.00
Type of illness during pregnancy
Chronic disease (DM/Htn)	22	24	2.40 (0.02–0.08)
Others	11	5	1.00
Drank alcohol during pregnancy
Yes	12	122	0.95 (2.25–18.04)
No	40	427	1.00
Gestational age
<37 weeks	22	249	1.13 (1.61–5.21)	2.81 (1.19–6.83)***
≥37 weeks	30	300	1.00	1.00
Mode of delivery
SVD	39	503	1.00
Cesarean section	13	46	0.27 (1.81–7.32)
Admission to NICU
Yes	21	296	1.72 (3.56–11.64)	5.52 (2.01–15.15)**
No	31	253	1.00	1.00
Sibling with VI
Yes	10	41	2.95 (1.58–6.83)
No	42	508	1.00
Parents with VI
Yes	16	247	1.84 (1.97–6.78)	1.8 (0.13–0.97)*
No	36	302	1.00	1.00
Family history of spectacle use
Yes	19	54	5.29 (2.80–9.90)
No	33	495	1.00
History of medical visits
Yes	10	272	1.00
No	42	277	0.3 (2.03–8.39)
Frequency of medical visits
Yearly	10	82	1.00
Symptoms seen	19	128	0.12 (0.04–0.33)
Duration of watching TV
<2 hours/day	20	98	1.00
2–4 hours/day	12	198	3.36 (0.63–2.75)
>4 hours/day	6	155	5.27 (0.59–3.53)
TV-exposure distance
<2 m	26	223	1.47 (0.69–12.81)	8.71 (1.49–18.24)*
2–4 m	17	293	2.97 (0.86–4.87)	2.32 (2.42–25.26)
>4 m	5	29	1.00	1.00
Duration of mobile exposure
<2 hours/day	20	245	1.00	1.00
2–4 hours/day	12	154	1.04 (2.44–17.11)	2.98 (1.30–6.78)
>4 hours/day	6	99	1.95 (1.10–7.93)	1.6 (1.32–4.45)*

Notes: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: TV, television; VI, visual impairment; DM, diabetes mellitus; Htn, hypertension; SVD, spontaneous vaginal delivery; NICU, neonatal intensive-care unit.

Availability Of Data

The hard copy of the collected primary data used in this research is securely locked so that is accessible to the authors only. For the sake of privacy of the participants, the data are not totally open to all readers; however, data can be made available from one of the authors upon reasonable request.