Author(s)

Shoshi Flaka^1*, Hoxha-Shoshi Mire², Shoshi Fitore², Shoshi Fjolla², Shoshi Avdyl³

¹Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Republic of Kosova.
²College of Medical Sciences “REZONANCA”, Prishtina, Republic of Kosova.
³AAB College, Prishtina, Republic of Kosova.

Introduction: Myopia is the refractive anomaly of the eye in which the conjugate focus of the retina is at some finite point in front of the eye, when the eye is not accommodating. Myopia is else known as short-sightedness and is considered as one of the most frequent causes of reduced vision especially in adolescents. Adolescence is one of the life periods when most cases are diagnosed with myopia. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify myopia in pre-school and school children (3 - 9 years old in Prishtina), to determine the prevalence of myopia among other refractive anomalies in cases included in the study; compare the prevalence of myopia in this population in Prishtina to other countries in the world; determine the effect of hereditary and socio-economic factors on the prevalence of myopia; and determine the degrees of myopia in our cases included in our study. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 1027 pre-school children and pupils from 4 schools in Prishtina, aged 3 - 9 years old, who were screened for refractive anomalies, with a special focus on the incidence of myopia in this age group. The data were collected by screening children in the institutions of pre-school and primary school education, including 2 primary schools and two kindergarten during a two-year period 2010-2012 in Prishtina. Results: On the screening of pre-school and school children for refractive anomalies, were included 1027 subjects of ages 3 - 9 years old. Of the 1027 children screened 536 (52.2%) were male and 491 (47.8%) were female. Statistically, the prevalence of refractive anomalies in the total population studied is significant based on the resulting value (P < 0.0001). In general, the prevalence of refractive anomalies in this study results in 164/103 with an interval of 141/103 in 186/103 for 95% CI. Based on the age, out of 168 patients identified with refractive anomalies, the prevalence of refractive anomalies was 9.9% in the patients of age 3 and 21.4% on the patients of age 7. The prevalence of myopia as a specific refractive anomaly was present in 33 cases 3.4%. Other patients were diagnosed with hypermetropia 37 cases (3.8%) and with astigmatism 44 cases (4.5%). Out of 33 cases with myopia, 20 cases or 60% were diagnosed with a slight degree myopia (myopia of first degree or -1.0 to -3.0 DS). 13 cases were diagnosed with intermediate degree myopia (-3 to -6 DS). There were no cases with severe myopia identified in this study. Conclusions: The Prishtina study is a report of prevalence of myopia among pre-school and school-age children in the municipality. The study reveals that refractive error and myopia were significantly common finding among the study group, and the prevalence was found to be even higher in children within the school age-group. The number of newly diagnosed myopia was significant, suggesting the need for a robust school eye health programme, regular assessment of school children for refractive error and provision of timely refractive corrections.

Myopia, Prevalence, Refractive Anomalies, School Children, Refractive Errors

Flaka, S. , Mire, H. , Fitore, S. , Fjolla, S. and Avdyl, S. (2020) Prevalence of Myopia in Preschool and School Children in the Municipality of Prishtina in Kosovo. Open Journal of Ophthalmology, 10, 33-43. doi: 10.4236/ojoph.2020.101005.