Uncorrected Refractive Errors in Presbyopes attending medical college eye OPD

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out the prevalence of pre-existing uncorrected refractive error in presbyopes who attended the Eye O.P.D. in medical college of Bangalore (India). 100 presbyopes were selected according to inclusion criteria. Complete ophthalmic examination including visual acuity and objective & subjective refraction was performed. History of difficulty of vision was noted. Observations were tabulated and analyzed. 47 out of 100 presbyopes had pre-existing uncorrected refractive error. Most common complaint was difficulty of distance vision. 33 out of 47 had never used spectacles. Equal number of hyperopes and myopes were present. OBJECTIVE To find out the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors in presbyopes attending Eye OPD in medical college in Bangalore INTRODUCTION Presbyopia is described as the condition wherein the eye exhibits a progressively diminished ability to focus on near objects with age. Thus there emerges the need of near vision corrective spectacles. The first symptoms present between the age of 40-50 years with difficulty in reading fine prints, in dim illumination, eyestrain after long reading hours and transient blur vision (1). 2 different definitions are cited in various studies. Functional presbyopia is defined as needing a significant optical correction added to the presenting distance refractive correction to achieve a near visual acuity criterion (more than or equal to 1 line of acuity improvement in one case, J1 print in another, and N8 print in the other) ( 2-4) . Objective presbyopia is defined as needing a significant optical correction (more than or equal to 1.00 D) added to the best distance optical correction to improve near vision to a near visual acuity criterion of N8 (5). The prevalence of presbyopia varies from region to region. In southern India, Nirmalan et al (5) found a prevalence of 55 per cent in people aged 30 years and older. Refractive errors affect a large proportion of the population worldwide, irrespective of age, sex and ethnicity. A significant number of these are never recognized and treated. These people in their presbyopic age present with uncorrected refractive errors. According to the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, in 2004, the number of people (above the age of 40 years) visually impaired from uncorrected refractive errors in India were almost 35 million (6). It was also shown that the coverage of refractive services in various regions of India ranges just between 40-55%. Uncorrected distance refractive error is the most common cause of vision impairment and the second most common cause of blindness in the world (6-9). This study is aims to find out the prevalence of pre-existing uncorrected refractive error in presbyopes attending Eye OPD in medical college in Bangalore.