Objective  To explore the impact of visual screening on eyeglass wearing behavior among primary school students in rural areas of western China and to provide evidences for developing effective measures on vision monitoring in the students.

  Methods  The data of the study were from a questionnaire survey and vision examination conducted in 2012 among 18 734 students of grade 4 and 5 randomly selected in 252 primary schools in rural areas of Shaanxi and Gansu province. We adopted logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of visual screening on eyeglass wearing among the students.

  Results  Of the 252 primary schools selected, only 86 had vision screening project. Among all the students surveyed, only 36.1% (6 771) had received vision examination and of the students participating in vision screening, only 67.1% (4 546) being aware of their vision examination results. No significant impact of vision screening on the rate of eyeglass wear was observed among the students receiving the screening after controlling for potential influencing factors (P = 0.200). The notification of vision screening results to the examinees could significantly increase the eyeglass wearing rate among the students with minor vision problems (P < 0.001).

  Conclusion  The implementation of vision screening and feedback of screening results are inadequate among primary school students in rural areas. The finished vision screening programs had no significant impact on eyeglass wearing rate; while the feedback of vision screening results could increase the rate of eyeglass wear among rural primary school students.