1Associate Professor, Dept. of Ophthalmology, NKP salve institute of medical sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
2Intern, Dept. of Ophthalmology, NKP salve institute of medical sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
3Lecturer, Dept. of Ophthalmology, NKP salve institute of medical sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
4Resident, Dept. of Ophthalmology, NKP salve institute of medical sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
*Corresponding Author: Email: archananikose@gmail.com
Online published on 24 September, 2018.
To study the incidence of clinical forms of vitamin A deficiency and create awareness for importance of dietary vitamin A among parents.
This cross sectional study was done in a rural based tertiary care centre which included 256 patients attending the paediatric OPD between the age group of 1 month to 10 years during July and August 2015. Questionnaires were prepared for socioeconomic status and nutritional status. An ophthalmic examination was carried out along with a trained paraopthalmic assistant in the paediatric OPD. The findings of torch light examination were confirmed on slit lamp examination. The positive findings of vitamin A deficiency were compared with the WHO classification. Statistical analysis was done by using the SPSS software V.11.
The total number of children examined were 256 which included 101 (39.5%) from rural areas and 155 (60.5%) from urban areas. Conjuctival xerosis was noted in 19 (7.4%) children out of which 9 children (3.5%) were from urban and 10 children (3.9%) from rural areas. 21 children (8%) suffered from night blindness which is another sign of Vitamin A deficiency (XN).
Vitamin A deficiency affects most of the school going children in rural India and it occurs mainly due to dietary insufficiency hence can be prevented.
Conjunctival xerosis, Incidence, Kuppuswamy scale, Xeropthalmia
