Comparison of academic performance of primary school children presenting with strabismus and/or amblyopia in Nigeria with age- and sex-matched classmates

Abstract

To compare the academic performance of urban primary school children with strabismus and/or amblyopia seen at the Eye Clinic of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria, with that of their controls. In this comparative cross-sectional study, conducted in 2022, 92 primary school children with strabismus and/or amblyopia were consecutively recruited from UNTH Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu. They were compared with 92 age- and sex-matched classmates from schools who had normal visual acuity (6/6) and no strabismus. The academic performance of participants was evaluated using the average of individual subject scores in Mathematics, English, Science, and Social Studies, and the average overall scores in the three terms of an academic session. Scores of ≥75%, were classified as high academic performance; 50%-74%, was classified as average; and scores of <50%, was classified as poor. Student's t-test was used for comparison of means. The chi-square test/Fisher's exact test, as appropriate, was used for categorical variables. The level of statistical significance was set at P < .05. Patients and controls had an average overall score of 84.52 ± 11.35 and 83 ± 12.56, respectively, with no statistically significant difference. The majority of the patients (81.5%) had high academic performance. The lowest mean score was in mathematics for both groups. Patients had high academic performance with no statistically significant difference between that of the patients and their controls. Of all the school topics, both patient and control groups had the lowest mean scores in mathematics, with patients scoring lower than the controls.