Abstract:
Background: There is a scarcity of data on asthenopia and accommodative disorders in
children in Ghana as optometrists sometimes fail to carry out comprehensive assessments
because of the lack of appropriate instruments.
Aim: To establish the prevalence of asthenopic symptoms and symptomatic accommodative
disorders among Junior High School children in Cape Coast metropolis (in their habitual
vision state) and to investigate if there are any associations between asthenopic symptoms and
the disorders.
Method: A prospective cross-sectional school-based study using a multistage sample of 627
participants aged 12–17 years from Junior High Schools in Cape Coast metropolis, Ghana, was
conducted. Participants completed a reliable asthenopic symptoms questionnaire (Cronbach’s
α = 0.866), and 220 participants who expressed two or more severe or very severe symptoms
were selected for comprehensive accommodative system assessment over their habitual
vision state.
Results: The prevalence of symptoms of asthenopia (two or more severe or very severe) and
symptomatic accommodative disorders were 35.1% and 17.4% respectively. For specific
symptomatic accommodative disorders, the prevalence was as follows: 7.7% accommodative
insufficiency, 4.5% accommodative infacility, 1.4% accommodative excess and 3.8% accommodative
fatigue. There were significant associations between some specific accommodative disorders and
some specific asthenopic symptoms even though these asthenopic symptoms overlapped in other
accommodative disorders.
Conclusion: Specific asthenopic symptoms do not discriminate between the presences of
specific types of accommodative disorders. A comprehensive accommodative system
assessment with appropriate instruments is relevant to the diagnosis and management of
accommodative disorders to relieve asthenopic symptoms.
