[Association between the need for optical correction prescription and other ocular conditions in school children].

Purposes: To verify the relation between prescription of eyeglasses and presence of ocular infections found in the " Eye to Eye Campaign" carried out in the city of Recife in 2004.

Methods: School-aged children seen in the " Eye to Eye Campaign" in Recife, in 2004. Stages recommended by the Brazilian Ophthalmologic Council (CBO) were followed, from preparation of teachers to select children to appointment with ophthalmologists. The patients were divided into two groups according to the need of eyeglasses, and related to presence or not of ocular conditions. This is a cross-section study and the results were analyzed by the statistical software Epi Info version 6.0.

Results: In a group of 1994 school-aged patients, 686 needed eyeglasses (34.4% - Group 1), 543 (27.2%) did not had any ocular diseases, while 143 (7.17%) had some ocular condition. A total of 1308 children (65.5% - Group 2) did not require eyeglasses. Among those, 256 (62.5%) did not show any ophthalmologic condition, whereas 52 (2.6%) had some type of ocular diseases. Groups 1 and 2 were compared and children in need of eyeglasses had a 5.24-fold (95% confidence interval: 3.87 to 7.10) greater relative risk of developing ocular diseases than children who did not require correction, and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.0000001).

Conclusion: We conclude that school-aged children in need of eyeglasses are more likely to suffer ocular diseases, and a complete ophthalmologic examination should be performed in childhood by qualified ophthalmologists to detect and treat several disorders and also prescribe adequate correction.