The ocular health status of postprimary school children in Kaduna, Nigeria: report of a survey.

In a study of 5,220 postprimary school children in Nigeria, 10.36% had one or more ophthalmic defects requiring attention. The common problems encountered were conjuctivitis, refractive errors, and muscle imbalance, most of which were either intermittent or incomitant. Low degree myopia is common even though high myopia is not frequently seen. Old uveitis and corneal opacities were found to cause gross visual defects in some students and early macular degeneration was detected in nin students. The responsibility of the school medical officer in treating early infective cases and in referring other more complicated cases to hospital is emphasized.