PURPOSE: To evaluate the ophthalmologic profile of "Alfabetização Solidária" - a program that teaches illiterate adults how to read and write; to identify the main causes of low visual acuity; to show our experience and the main results of promoting visual health in the community. METHODS: Ophthalmologic equipment (two automatic refractors, two Green refractors, two supports, two chairs, four ophthalmoscopes, one portable slit lamp, two applanation tonometers, one indirect ophthalmoscope. PARTICIPANTS: Teachers trained to assess visual acuity, ophthalmologists and residents in Ophthalmology, auxiliary personnel and secretaries. RESULTS: We observed that almost half of the students (46%) showed visual acuity equal to or below 0.8 in both eyes; 81.4% of the population needed optic correction and 37% needed corrective lenses for presbyopia. The majority of the population was between 41 and 50 years old, 56% of the students were female. Thirty-eight percent of the students showed some ophthalmologic pathology. We found that pterygium and cataracts were the most frequent. CONCLUSION: The program should include as prerequisite an ophthalmologic examination of each student prior to enrollment for best results.
Visual acuity; Refraction; ocular; Cataract; Pterygium; Underachievement; Education
