The prevalence of asthenopia and its determinants in a population of university students

Abstract

PurposeTo determine the prevalence of asthenopia and some of its determinants in a population of Iranian university studentsMethodsIn this cross‐sectional study, multi‐stage cluster sampling was applied in students of Kazerun's universities in south of Iran. After selecting the subjects, ophthalmic examinations and interview was conducted with each student. In line with previous studies, any person with at least one of the symptoms of eye pain, dry eyes, eye swelling, blurred vision, diplopia, foreign body sensation, photophobia, tearing and low visual acuity was considered to have asthenopia.ResultsOf 1462 selected subjects with a mean age of 22.8 ± 3.1 years, 73% of them were females. The prevalence of asthenopia was 71.2%, 40.6%, and 19.7% based on having 1, 2, and 3 symptoms, respectively. The prevalence of asthenopia was 73.3% in females and 65.5% in males (P = 0.004). The highest (81.5%) and lowest (58.4%) prevalence of asthenopia was seen in the age group 28–29 years and 30 years and above, respectively. The prevalence of asthenopia was higher in hyperopic subjects than myopic and emmetropic subjects (P < 0.001). The prevalence of asthenopia was 77.7% in astigmatic and 79.2% in anisometropic participants. The mean amplitude of accommodation was 9.7 ± 2.6 D and 10.28 ± 4.3 D in asthenopic and healthy subjects, respectively (P = 0.008). The mean near point of convergence was 7.2 ± 2.8 cm and 7.7 ± 3.9 cm in asthenopic and healthy subjects, respectively (P0 < 0.001).ConclusionsThe prevalence of asthenopia is markedly high in university students, may causes difficulty in reading and is important to address this condition in this age group.