Integrated School Health Screening Program in khan Sahab, District Budgam (J&K)

Background: Screening program in schools are designed to identify children who have early signs of health problems. This study provides information about the findings of integrated school health screening program in rural block khan sahib, District Budgam. Aims and Objectives: To screen for the behavioural, visual disorders, pediculosis, nutritional status and physical examination of school going children in rural block of Khan Sahib, District Budgam. Design: Community based cross-sectional study Methods: This Integrated school health screening program was conducted by the Department of SPM, Govt. Medical College and Srinagar. This program had two major parts including 1) Screening of behavioural, visual disorders, pediculosis and calculating body mass index and 2) physical examination of students, conducted by primary care physicians. All services were offered free of charge. The students' parents were informed about the health status of their children. Statistical analysis used: SPSS v 20.0. Results: The screening program conducted in Aug.2015‐Sep.2015 included 201 students from 2 schools, age 5 yrs to 16 yrs who were studying in Government Middle and Secondary schools. Of total students studied, 89.05% had weight disorders, i.e. body mass index <3rd percentile or > 95th percentile. 27.86% had visual disorders, 3.95 % had head lice, and 2.24% had behavioural disorders. On physical examination 15.92% had upper respiratory tract infections, 33.83% had abdominal cramps and 23.87% had fungal skin infection. Conclusion: In addition to its benefits to the students' health status, the results of this screening program help health policy makers to design interventions for prevention and or early detection and treatment of the most common disorders documented among school students.