Determination of the proportion of refractive errors in patients with primary complaint of headache and the significance of refractive error correction in symptoms relief

Abstract

Introduction: Headache attributed to refractive errors (HARE) is a common condition caused by myopia, hypermetropia, and astigmatisms. Headache is not necessarily experienced by all individuals with REs. HARE is mainly caused by the strain produced in the ciliary muscles to focus objects more often during near works like reading. This study is an attempt to estimate REs with headache and symptoms relief after correction respectively. Materials and Methods: 103 cases of both sexes with mean age 19.04±7.27 years referred to the ophthalmology out patient department with complain of haedache were included in the study. Objective refraction was measured with 0.5% cyclopentolate drops and retinoscopy was done with suitable lenses. All cases were followed up for a period of one month. Results: The frequency of REs in headache patients was found to be (29) 28.15% with hypermetropia 9(31.03%), myopia 6(20.69%), mixed astigmatism 5(17.24%), compound myopic astigmatism 4(13.79%), compound hypermetropic astigmatism 3(10.34%), simple myopic astigmatism 2(6.90%). Asthenopia was found in 62% of cases diagnosed with RE. Symptoms relief was seen in 69% of cases after spectacles prescription. 16 out of 19 patients with asthenopia experienced symptoms relief after one month. Conclusion: Among the many causes of headache, HARE is a subgroup to be resolved with ophthalmological consultation. The results of this study indicates a positive association of Res in causing headache and the importance of lens correction in symptoms relief. So, all headache cases should have ophthalmological examination since maximum amount of success is possible in HARE management. Keywords: Asthenopia, Astigmatism, Headache, Hypermetropia, Myopia, Refractive error.