Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Visual Perception Skills among school going children aged 6-11 years

Abstract

Introduction: Socioeconomic status (SES), includes factors like parental education, occupation, and income that plays a significant role in shaping children’s developmental outcomes, such as visual perception. Higher SES is associated with better visual perception skills due to access to enriched environments and resources, while lower SES can limit exposure to such opportunities, potentially affecting cognitive and sensory development. Understanding this relationship is crucial for creating equitable interventions to support children from diverse backgrounds.
Objectives: To explore the influence of socioeconomic status on visual perception skills in school going children aged 6-11 years.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 226 children aged 6-11 years were recruited from government schools in Kattankulathur through convenience sampling. Motor Free Visual Perception Test- fourth version (MVPT-4) and Modified Kuppuswamy Scale were used to evaluate visual perception, and socioeconomic status, respectively. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 26 through Kruskal Wallis test, Spearman Rank-Order correlation and regression analysis.
Results: The mean age of participants was 8.01±1.4 years. A statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was found across different SES based on education, occupation, income, and overall SES. Correlation analysis showed a positive relationship between MVPT-4 scores and the ages of participants within various socioeconomic groups, indicating that VP performance improves with age. Regression analysis further revealed that age could account for 0.04% of the variation in MVPT-4 scores for the lower, 26.4% for the lower middle, 35.3% for the upper and 47.7% for the upper middle class.
Conclusion: The study concludes that SES is a critical predictor of visual perception development. The visual perception scores differed among children in different socio-economic groups. Furthermore, the study concludes the need for awareness and early intervention for visual perception skills among lower socioeconomic groups.