Analysis of the eye health action of the health school program in Brazil from 2014 to 2019: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To describe the eye health action of the Health in Schools Program (PSE) in Brazil, based on the PSE actions monitoring system. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, descriptive, carried out using data from the Health Information System for Primary Care (SISAB) from 2014 to 2019. Results: 153,073 eye health activities of the PSE were observed and 5,697,109 participants. However, there was an increase of 65.1% of activities in the period from 2014 to 2019. The average number of actions taken in the agreed schools was 4.35 (95%CI 4.00;4.70). The national average coverage of the action was 8.32% (95%CI 6.31;10.33) in the period. In 2019, 15,325 students were identified with visual impairments. Conclusion: It was found that the eye health interventions of PSE have grown over the years in Brazil, therefore contributing to the prevention of visual impairment and blindness in Brazilian students.