|
 
 |
| LETTER TO EDITOR |
|
| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 8
| Issue : 2 | Page : 72 |
|
Refractive errors status among children examined at optical center in Khartoum state
Amra Nadarevic Vodencarevic1, Aida Drljević1, Svjetlana Loga2, Svjetlana Terzić3, Ermina Aščerć4
1 Eye Department, Health Center Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
3 Eye Clinic, University Clinic Center Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Faculty, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| Date of Web Publication | 17-Jan-2017 |
Correspondence Address:
Amra Nadarevic Vodencarevic
Health Center Tuzla "Mustafa Šehović", Ophthalmology Department, Albina Herljevića 1, 75000 Tuzla
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1858-540X.198546
How to cite this article:
Vodencarevic AN, Drljević A, Loga S, Terzić S, Aščerć E. Refractive errors status among children examined at optical center in Khartoum state. Sudanese J Ophthalmol 2016;8:72 |
How to cite this URL:
Vodencarevic AN, Drljević A, Loga S, Terzić S, Aščerć E. Refractive errors status among children examined at optical center in Khartoum state. Sudanese J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2016 [cited 2023 Apr 1];8:72. Available from: https://www.sjopthal.net/text.asp?2016/8/2/72/198546 |
Sir,
We have read carefully and with a lot of interest the article entitled, "Refractive errors status among children examined at optical center in Khartoum state" by Ali Mohamed et al. [1] First of all, we would like to congratulate the authors for conducting such study as this is a very popular topic among pediatric and general ophthalmologists. We agree with the authors that the childhood visual impairment due to refractive errors is one of the most common problems in the whole world, especially in developing countries. Worldwide, uncorrected refractive error is increasingly being recognized as a significant cause of avoidable visual disability, as evidenced by its inclusion in the priority areas of vision 2020: The right to sight - a global initiative launched by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations and the World Health Organization. [2] There are a few long-term consequences of uncorrected visual acuity in the children. The uncorrected visual acuity can decrease the quality of life. Very important is to identify anisometropia as it could be a very powerful amblyogenic factor. In our experience, in most cases, mild levels of anisometropia do not cause amblyopia.
We do have few suggestions that we would like to share with the authors. We strongly believe that in developing countries, there should be an obligatory national screening for refractive errors. It should be mandatory that all the children entering school should be evaluated by ophthalmologist. However, we have few queries regarding methodology. Mohamed Ali et al. failed to explain whether visual acuity was performed monocularly in each eye. In addition, from the article, it is not clear whether the author completed to each kid a full ophthalmology examination. We suggest implementing a full eye examination which would include slit lamp examination, fundus examination, retinoscopy, and subjective refraction.
To conclude, we think that the quality of this study would be improved by adding axial length (AL) and as well conducting the relationship between anisometropia, patient age, and the amblyopia. At present, there are not quite a lot of studies that deal with AL at children. We strongly encourage the authors to add AL and conduct the comparison between AL and age.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Ali Mohamed AB, Talha Bakheit AK, Elmadina Mohamed AE. Refractive errors status among children examined at optical center in Khartoum State. Sudan J Ophthalmol 2016;8:10-4.  |
| 2. | Holden BA, Resinkoff S. The role of optometry in vision 2020. J Community Eye Health 2002;15:33-6. |
|
Search Pubmed for