The correlation of vitamin d level with refractive errors in disabled paediatric patients

Abstract

Refractive errors are the most prevalent ocular disorders in paediatric ophthalmology having a higher occurrence in children with disabilities. This paper evaluated the refractive status of the disabled children and identified the influence of Vitamin D on this status. The study group was represented by 160 children (80 clinically healthy - group 0, 80 having different physical and/or mental disabilities - group 1) with ages between 5-16 years old, ophthalmologically examined between January 2019-January 2020. The prevalence of refractive errors was analysed according to the blood level of Vitamin D; the prevalence of the identified refractive errors was 35% in the group of children with disabilities (16% myopia, 14% astigmatism, 5% hyperopia) and 36% in the group of clinically healthy children (16% astigmatism, 10% myopia, 10% hyperopia). In group 1, an acceptable level (20-30 ng/mL) of Vitamin D was found in 61.54% of children with myopia, 25% in those with hyperopia, and 18.18% in those with astigmatism, the rest showing insufficiency of Vitamin D. Both children with disabilities/clinically healthy shown ocular refractive errors, the difference between the two groups being statistically insignificant (1%). The presence of Vitamin D in the blood in normal or insufficient levels suggests a strong correlation of its levels with the appearance of ocular refraction disorders.