Pattern Of Refractive Errors Research Articles

Comparison of refractive errors and factors associated with spectacle use in a rural and urban South Indian population

To compare the prevalence of refractive errors and factors associated with spectacle use in a rural and urban south Indian population. Four thousand eight hundred subjects (age> 39 years) each from rural and urban Tamil Nadu were enumerated for a population-based study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmic evaluation including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), objective and subjective refraction. Out of 3924 rural responders 63.91% and out of 3850 urban responders 81.64% were phakic in the right eye with BCVA of 20/40 or better and were included in the study. Association of spectacle use and refractive errors with different parameters were analysed using logistic regression. Chi square, t test, Chi square for trend and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for analysis. Spectacle use was significantly higher and positively associated with literacy and employment in the urban population. The age and gender-adjusted prevalence of emmetropia, myopia of spherical equivalent (SE) < or =-0.50 diopter sphere (DS), high myopia (SE < or =-5.00DS), hyperopia (SE> 0.50DS) and astigmatism < or = 0.50 diopter cylinder (DC) were 46.8%, 31.0%, 4.3%, 17.9% and 60.4% respectively in the rural population and 29.0%, 17.6%, 1.5%, 51.9%, 59.1% respectively in the urban population. The prevalence of emmetropia decreased with age ( p p = 0.001) and were associated with nuclear sclerosis ( p = 0.001) in both populations. Hyperopia was commoner among women than men ( p = 0.001); was positively associated with diabetes mellitus ( p = 0.008) in the rural population and negatively with nuclear sclerosis ( p = 0.001) in both populations. Spectacle use was found to be significantly lower in the rural population. The pattern of refractive errors was significantly different between both populations.

Refractive errors in Mercyland Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Western Nigeria

The study was conducted to determine the magnitude and pattern of refractive errors in order to provide facilities for its management. A prospective study of 3601 eyes of 1824 consective patients was conducted. Information obtained included age, sex, occupation, visual acuity, type and degree of refractive error. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 11.0 version) Computer Software. Refractive error was found in 1824(53.71%) patients. There were 832(45.61%) males and 992(54.39%) females with a mean age of 35.55. Myopia was the commonest (1412(39.21% eyes). Others include hypermetropia (840(23.33% eyes), astigmatism (785(21.80%) and 820 patients (1640 eyes) had presbyopia. Anisometropia was present in 791(44.51%) of 1777 patients that had bilateral refractive errors. Two thousand two hundred and fifty two eyes has spherical errors. Out of 2252 eyes with spherical errors, 1308 eyes (58.08%) had errors -0.50 to +0.50 dioptres, 567 eyes (25.18%) had errors less than -0.50 dioptres of whom 63 eyes (2.80%) had errors less than -5.00 dioptres while 377 eyes (16.74%) had errors greater than +0.50 dioptres of whom 81 eyes (3.60%) had errors greater than +2.00 dioptres. The highest error was 20.00 dioptres for myopia and 18.00 dioptres for hypermetropia. Refractive error is common in this environment. Adequate provision should be made for its correction bearing in mind the common types and degrees.

Prevalence of Refractive Errors in a Rural South Indian Population

To report the prevalence of refractive errors in a rural south Indian population. Four thousand eight hundred subjects (age, >39 years) from rural south India were enumerated for a population-based study. All participants underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation. Subjects who were phakic in the right eye with best corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better were included for analysis. Association of refractive errors with age, sex, cataract, and diabetes mellitus were analyzed. Of the 3924 responders, 2508 were eligible. The unadjusted prevalence of emmetropia (spherical equivalent [SE], -0.50 to +0.50 diopter sphere [DS]), myopia (SE < -0.50 DS), high myopia (SE < -5.00 DS), and hyperopia (SE > 0.50 DS) were 50.60%, 26.99%, 3.71%, and 18.70% and age and gender adjusted for the rural Tamil Nadu population were 46.77%, 30.97%, 4.32%, and 17.94%, respectively. The prevalence of emmetropia decreased significantly with age (P < 0.0001), and the prevalence of myopia and high myopia increased significantly with age (P < 0.001) and were significantly associated with nuclear sclerosis (P < 0.001). The prevalence of hyperopia increased until 60 years of age and then decreased. Hyperopia was more common among women than men (P < 0.001) and was negatively associated with nuclear sclerosis (P < 0.001) and positively with diabetes mellitus (P = 0.008). Of the participants with astigmatism (cylindrical error greater than 0.50 DC), 9.80% had with-the-rule (WTR) and 77.44% against-the-rule (ATR) astigmatism. The prevalence of WTR and ATR astigmatism significantly decreased (P < 0.001) and increased (P = 0.006) with age, respectively. The pattern of refractive errors in this rural south Indian population is similar to those reported in other tropical regions of the world.

Refractive errors in Kaduna, Nigeria

Background: In the face of economic decline in Nigeria, budgetary subvention from government to health institutions has suffered adversely. Health institutions are forced to look inwards, minimize waste and generate resources to sustain clinical services. One such area of clinical service is the optical area. To sustain this important service area, the need to identify common refractive error and to commit meagre resources to the purchase of appropriate lens category became imperative. Methods: Between February 2000 and February 2001, a prospective study on the pattern of refractive errors was carried out at the outpatient eye clinic of the Guinness Ophthalmic Unit, Kaduna. Every consecutive new patient with asthenopic symptoms or blurred vision for distant objects or for small prints was refracted. Results: One thousand eight hundred and forty one patients with asthenopic symptoms were refracted. Forty nine percent were males and fifty one percent females. The age range was 6 – 60 years. Low-grade hypermetropia (0.25D – 1.25D) was the commonest spherical error (21.7%) observed, while astigmatism was observed in 14.3%. simple myopia constituted 8.0%. Presbyopic patients formed the largest group (56.0%). Conclusion: Refractive error is a common cause of visual impairment among ophthalmic patients in Kaduna. Judicious management of the meagre resources on appropriate lens category, which in this study is presbyopic lens type, cannot be overemphasized. Key Words: Hypermetropia, myopia, astigmatism Nigerian Journal of Surgical Research Vol.5(1&2) 2003:106-109

Pattern Of Refractive Errors At Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Objective: The objective of this paper is to determine the prevalence and pattern of cases of refractive error reported at the eye clinic of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife (OAUTH). Methodology: All consecutive new patients seen at the eye clinic of the OAU Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, between October 1997 and September 1998 were examined. Those patients who complained of difficulty in seeing near or far objects, whose vision improved with the pinhole or those who had difficulty doing close work like reading or threading needles were refracted by the author. Results: Out of the 1,550 new patients seen within the period of study, eight- hundred and sixty eight (54.9%) had refractive errors. Refractive errors were twice as common among the females than the males in this study. Myopia was the commonest spherical error (22.7%). The highest degree was -12.0DS. Presbyopia was present in 31.8% of the patients. The youngest age of presentation for presbyopia was 36 years. Astigmatism occurred in 55.8% of the patients seen. Most of the patients (68.3%) had myopic astigmatism. One of the two patients who had anisometropia had developed amblyopia in the more hypermetropic eye. Conclusion: Since refractive errors were found to be very common in this study increased health education and provision of adequate, affordable and modern facilities for correction of refractive errors are highly recommended. Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology Vol. 11(2) 2003: 76-79