Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences (Apr 2023)
Study of magnitude and risk factors for refractive errors in tertiary hospital of north Karnataka
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Refractive errors are leading cause of avoidable blindness in world. Prevention of refractive error by identifying avoidable, modifiable and reversible biological or environmental risk factors could have great impact. Most of the earlier research is oriented towards school children, whereas in current times, onset of refractive error in 3rd and 4th decade is being noticed frequently Changing lifestyle leading to onset of refractive error in adults is new shift of prevalence, etiology of which needs to be researched. This study is designed to incorporate this lacuna to study risk factors for myopia and hyperopia in patients of less than 40 years. Materials and methods: Our prospective cross-sectional study included 400 cases attending routine Ophthalmology consultation. Age, gender, occupation and family history of refractive errors, visual acuity was noted along with automated refraction and cycloplegic refraction in children. Cumulative error calculated as “Spherical equivalent refraction [SER]”. Responses to a questionnaire regarding time spent in different near activities were recorded. It was converted to a composite variable “Dioptre hours” considering different levels of accommodative effort for each activity. Results: The study sample of 400 cases included 16.5% Emmetropia, 79.25% Myopia and 4.25% Hyperopia. 59% females comprised the majority. 27- 40 years age group had maximum number of myopics and 100% Hyperopics. 58.75% of myopics were students, while 82.35% of Hyperopes had a desk job. Risk of having refractive error had an odd of 0.75 if one parent wore glasses (95% confidence interval= 0.39 to 1.42, p=0.43) and an odd of 1.16 if both parents wore glasses. Myopics showed a statistically significant positive correlation between SER and duration of reading (p<0.05). Compared to emmetropes, myopes spent significantly increased duration of time in mobile phones (p<0.05). In Hyperopics, duration spent in studying was significantly lesser compared to emmetropes (p<0.05). Duration of outdoor activities and reading distance did not show any significant correlation with SER in both myopics and hyperopics. Conclusion: Prevalence of refractive errors is highest in 26-40years age group in current times with female predominance. Excessive near work especially reading and using mobile phones leads to myopia onset and progression. Incorporating outdoor activities in curriculum, reducing online teaching programmes may reduce magnitude of refractive errors.
