Prevalence of Refractive Errors among Medical Students and Identification of Associated Factors

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of refractive errors among medical students and identify associatedfactors.Study Design: Analytical, cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of Community Medicine at AkhtarSaeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore from September 2020 to December 2020.Materials and Methods: The study included 300 medical students using convenience sampling technique. Aself- structured pre- tested questionnaire was used. All medical students including MBBS, BDS, Pharm –D andallied health sciences were included in the study. Those students who did not give consent were excluded fromthe study. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 23. Chi square test of significance was applied to findassociation between the variables and p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Refractive error was observed in 203 students (67.7%). The commonest refractive error was myopia(37%) followed by hypermetropia (23.7%) and astigmatism (7%). The prevalence of refractive errors wassignificantly associated with positive family history (p value=<.001), family income per month (p value=0.01)and mobile use per day (p value=0.001). Higher percentage of refractive error (70.6%) was reported byparticipants who were comfortable with light in which they study (p value=0.03).Conclusion: The prevalence of refractive error was 67.7% among medical students, and myopia was the mostprevalent refractive error. Refractive errors were significantly associated with positive family history, familyincome and mobile use per day.

Prevelance of Refractive Errors Among 4th Year Medical Students of D.G.KHAN Medical College, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

“…The current findings have shown less moderate cases but more in mild category of refractive errors in comparison to findings of Era's Lucknow Medical College. According to another study conducted from Pakistan, Medical students have shown significant association of refractive errors with positive family history12 in accordance with the current findings.…”

“…And has also shown Significant association between presence of refractive errors and positive family history. 12 Major sufferers of this disease are academically active professionals 13 coming into contact with technology the most in their day to-day activities and also spend long hours reading and doing near work. 14 The causes of refractive error such as Nutrition, Genetic factor, Lifestyle are common.…”