Prevalence and associated risk factors of refractive errors among medical students in Western Odisha: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

<p><strong>Background:</strong> prevalence of refractive errors among medical students pursing higher studies is very high. Very little data about the prevalence of refractive errors among medical students in western Odisha is available. So, this Present study was undertaken with an objective were to estimate the prevalence of refractive errors among medical students of VIMSAR, Burla, Western Odisha, India and to study the association between various risk factors with the prevalence of refractive errors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates i.e. (from 1<sup>st</sup> year to final year) students of VIMSAR, Burla for a period of 2 months i.e. February to March 2020 with sample size of 200. A pre-designed, semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and distributed to students. To assess refractive errors among study population auto refractometer was used.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The overall prevalence of refractive errors in our study was 65%. Most common type of refractive error was Myopia i.e. 113 (86.92%) among the medical students followed by Astigmatism (10.77%) and Hypermetropia (2.31%) respectively. It was observed in our present study that the prevalence of refractive errors was highly associated within crease in study duration, use of electronic gadgets such as smartphones and computers and with the presence of family history this group difference was found to be significantly associated with chi-square=9.4183,<strong> </strong>78.9173, 114.235 and 56.1899 respectively with P<0.05.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> High prevalence of refractive errors was found among medical students of VIMSAR, Burla which emphasis on the need for routine ophthalmological evaluation and their proper assessment and management.</p>