RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of trachoma and its risk factors in rural primary school children in Tengzhou City of Shandong Province. METHODS: In this cross-sectional population-based study, children aged 5 to 14 years old in primary school were randomly selected by a cluster sampling in which school shift was the sampling unit. Out of 2742 students, 2676 were eligible. The examination rate was 97.60%. All selected students were assessed for trachoma using the simplified grading scheme proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Statistical significance was calculated using Chi-square tests. RESULTS: Out of 2676 eligible children, 593 cases of active trachoma were found, the prevalence of trachoma was 22.16% (95% CI:20.59%-23.73%). In 1606 boys, the prevalence of active trachoma was 19.74%, compared with 25.79% for girls. Girls were affected by active trachoma higher than boys (25.79% versus 19.74%, P=0.000). There was no significant difference among different age groups in term of the prevalence of trachoma (P=0.052). The prevalence of trachomatous follicle (TF), trachomatous inflammation (TI), and trachomatous scarring (TS) was 5.68% (152/2676), 19.21% (514/2676), 0.56% (15/2676), respectively. TI was more prevalent in girls than in boys (22.90% versus 16.75%, P=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Trachoma is still endemic in children of primary schools in Tengzhou rural areas. Some interventions including mass treatment with antibiotics, improvement of hygienic conditions, and improvement of primary eye care are needed.
