Influence of visual symptoms in school performance of adolescents

Abstract Purpose: To investigate if there was an association between visual symptoms and academic performance. A secondary objective was to estimate the prevalence of visual symptoms among students in a public school. Methods: A cross-sectional and quantitative study was made with 100 students, attending the sixth or seventh grades in a public school participated in this study. The evaluation of visual symptoms was done through the Visual Efficiency Inventory (IEV), translated and validated version of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development Quality of Life (COVD-QOL) questionnaire. The academic performance was evaluated through the application of a test containing 10 questions, equally divided between the disciplines of portuguese and mathematics. The results were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, Spearman’s coefficient and the Student’s t-test for p<0.05. Results: Of the 100 students, 52% were male. The prevalence of visual symptoms founded was 72%, with the highest scores in the IEV obtained by the girls. It was not observed a significant relationship between visual symptoms and academic performance. Conclusion: A high prevalence of visual symptoms was observed among students, but there was no significant relationship between visual symptoms and academic performance.