An Analysis of Factors Related to Changes in the Visual Acuity of Primary School Children Over One Year

초등학생의 1년간 시력변화와 관련된 요인 분석

The main purpose of this study was to analyze and identify factors related to changes in visual acuity of primary school students over one year period. The data for this study were collected from 980 students in the first to fifth grades of one elementary school located in Koyang City, Kyungki Province. The visual acuity tests of students and self reported questionnaires for the students and their parents were administered in 1995 and 1996. The data were analyzed by using SAS PC. The results of the study were as follows. 1. Visual acuity in both eyes is significantly lower in girls than in boys. 2. Overall visual acuity of the students decreased over the one year. Notably, decreases in visual acuity were statistically significant during the transition from the first to the second grade and from the third to the fourth grade. 3. Students with visual acuity ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 and those above 1.0 in 1995 showed a significantly lower acuity in 1996 than other students. 4. Students who needed glasses in 1995 showed significantly lower visual acuity in 1996 than those without glasses. 5. Other factors related to visual acuity are lights in the classroom, difficulty reading a blackboard, posture of children while watching TV, and distance from the TV set. Some of these factors may be the result of students' already poor visual acuity rather than causes of the decrease. In conclusion, many elementary school children experience significant decrease in visual acuity and need special intervention to maintain or improve their visual acuity.