The prevalence of visual disorders in Iranian students: A meta-analysis study and systematic review

Background Visual defects have dramatic effects on health, self-esteem, and educational function of students, and delayed diagnosis will cause complications, like academic failure and psychologic disorders. Objective The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of ocular disorders in Iranian students in a systematic review. Methods We searched databases, including PubMed, SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, and Iranmedex using the following keywords in Persian and English: disorders, vision, amblyopia, refractive errors, astigmatism, student, and Iran with all the possible combinations, important, chief, and sensitive words. Search resulted in 28 articles, conducted during a period from 1996 to 2014 in Iran and their data was analyzed using meta-analysis and random effects model. Heterogeneity of studies was assessed using I2 index, and data was finally analyzed with R Software and STATA (Version 11.2). Results Total number of subjects in the study was 1,117,274, aged 2 to 18 years. The prevalence of disorders related to amblyopia, refractive error, and strabismus was 8%, 7% and 1%, respectively. The greatest amount of refractive error was related to astigmatism (19%) followed by myopia (17%). Conclusion According to the study results, the prevalence of visual disorders among Iranian students indicated the critical necessity of screening programs for prevention of visual disorders in this age group.