Refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment and at the same time the most treatable cause of visual impairment in children and students. The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of the unmet need for refractive correction and the spectacle coverage rate among 7-year-old Iranian children with refractive errors

The present cross-sectional study was performed in 2013 through multistage cluster sampling across eight cities in Iran. For all students, non-cycloplegic autorefraction was done by a technician. In cases with uncorrected visual acuity lower than 20/25, subjective testing was performed, based on which, the best corrected visual acuity was determined. The unmet need for glasses was defined as the ratio of people who did not have glasses or their vision with their current glasses was worse than 6/12 despite achieving 6/12 or better visual acuity with proper correction

Sixty-seven schools were selected by multistage cluster sampling; 4106 subjects participated in the study (response rate, 89%) and 48.2% (n=1979) were female. The prevalence of spectacle need was 4.11% (95% CI: 3.19-5.04), the unmet need was 2.74% (95% CI: 1.89-3.59), and the rate of spectacle coverage was 33.3%. Also, the unmet need in children whose families were in the fourth income quartile was 0.14 (95% CI: 0.04- 0.48) times the rate seen in children in the first quartile. The concentration index for the unmet need was -0.27 (±0.05)

The findings of this study confirm that, in light of the detrimental effects of refractive errors in schoolchldren’s academic progress and their future, the Ministry of Health should make it a health priority to identify students who live in poorer families and have multiple risk factors for developing vision disorders