Poor Vision Among China's Rural Primary School Students: Prevalence, Correlates and Consequences

Abstract

Using a survey of 19,977 children in two provinces, this paper explores the prevalence, correlates and potential consequences of poor vision among children in China's vast but understudied rural areas. We find that 24% of sample students suffer from reduced uncorrected visual acuity in either eye and 16% in both eyes. Poor vision is significantly correlated with individual, parental and family characteristics, with modest magnitudes for all correlates but home province and grade level. The results also suggest a possible adverse impact of poor vision on academic performance and mental health, particularly among students with severe poor vision.

Effect of Chinese eye exercises on change in visual acuity and eyeglasses wear among school-aged children in rural China: a propensity-score-matched cohort study

“…Approximately one half of these children reside in China [3,4]. Spectacles provide safe and inexpensive correction for refractive error, but among children requiring correction in rural and urban migrant populations in China, spectacle wear is as low as 15% [5][6][7]. The situation is due in part to a wide-spread perception among parents, teachers and even some healthcare providers that eyeglasses wear harms children's vision by worsening myopia [8,9].…”

Visual impairment, spectacle wear and academic performance among junior high school students in western China

“…Only about 37% of secondary school children needing glasses in this rural, western China cohort were wearing them, which is consistent with studies from other regions in China showing high rates of unmet need among rural children. 8,20 In a study conducted in the same region, 15% of elementary school children needing glasses were observed wearing them. 8 Unfortunately, data on the reasons for non-wear are not available from the current study, but a possible reason for the lower rates of spectacle use among younger children with refractive error is the well-documented and widespread belief in China that spectacle wear will harm the vision of young children.…”

“…8,20 In a study conducted in the same region, 15% of elementary school children needing glasses were observed wearing them. 8 Unfortunately, data on the reasons for non-wear are not available from the current study, but a possible reason for the lower rates of spectacle use among younger children with refractive error is the well-documented and widespread belief in China that spectacle wear will harm the vision of young children. 3,21,22 This view appears to be particularly strongly-held with respect to younger children, perhaps explaining the lower rates of wear among primary 8 versus middle school children using the identical protocol in nearby areas of western China.…”

“…5 A small number of studies have sampled western rural areas, but have focused on primary schools students. 5,8 To our knowledge there has not been a large, population-based study of visual impairment among secondary school students in western China, home to approximately 15 million 13 to 15 year-olds. 9 Uncorrected refractive error has been associated with reversible decrement in self-reported visual function among school-aged children.…”

Do only children have poor vision? Evidence from China's One‐Child Policy

“…First of all, myopia is associated with substantial direct out-of-pocket expenditure (Zheng et al, 2013). Moreover, poor vision negatively affects the academic performance and mental health of students (Glewwe, Park, & Zhao, 2016;Yi et al, 2015), and it may further affect adult productivity. Myopia is common in school-aged children, particularly in Asia.…”