Prevalence of refractive errors in students from 5 to 12 years of Educational Unit Mathius Quintanilla Sierra, Portoviejo

Abstract

The view, and therefore the vision, is considered one of the most important organs in the physical and cognitive development of a child, because, by means of the vision, they interact with the environment that surrounds them. A good vision is important for all people, in this work an approach is made to the visual system of children from 5 to 12 years since, in these, the visual sense is still in process, therefore it is significant that they maintain a control of their vision, then, in these ages, when they are still developing, visual problems often become apparent. The research project aims to fulfill the stated objective that is to evaluate the prevalence of refractive errors in children from 5 to 12 years of the Educational Unit "Mathius Quintanilla Sierra" to determine refractive errors. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out, hyperopes occurred in 58% of schoolchildren, 23% were Emétrope, 18 had astigmatism while only 1% had myopia. The behavior of the observed refractive defects confirms the international reports and figures that affirm that the most common refractive errors are, hyperopia, astigmatism and myopia.