Ocular manifestation of vitamin A deficiency among Orang Asli (Aborigine) children in Malaysia

• Published in: Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 88 - 91
• Main Authors: Ngah, Nor F, Moktar, Norhayati, Isa, Noor HM, Selvaraj, S, Yusof, Md Shahrom, Sani, Halimah A, Hasan, Zainal AA, Kadir, Rohani A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Science Pty 01-01-2002
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Distribution; Child; Child, Preschool; Continental Population Groups; Eye Diseases - etiology; Female; Humans; Infant; luxometer reading; Malaysia; Male; night blindness; Night Blindness - etiology; Oceanic Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Orang Asli; Perak; Sex Distribution; vitamin A deficiency; Vitamin A Deficiency - complications; xerophthalmia; Malaysia
• ISSN: 0964-7058; 1440-6047
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-6047.2002.00268.x

This study determined the prevalence of ocular manifestation of vitamin A deficiency in Orang Asli (Aborigine) children. Night blindness was found in 16.0% of the children, conjunctiva xerosis in 57.3%, Bitot’s spot in 2.8%, corneal xerosis in 0.5% and corneal scars in 5.6%. These findings show that history of night blindness had sensitivity, specificity and predictive value (positive) of 47.2, 98.1 and 96.2%, respectively, compared with the standard diagnosis procedure using luxometer readings.