Purpose: To determine the prevalence of refractive errors in the students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used cluster sampling for selecting participants from every department of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, proportional to the number of students in each department. Each participant received refraction examination with an auto-refractometer and check up with a retinoscope. Myopia and hyperopia were defined as spherical equivalent (SE) less than -0.5 and more than +0.5 D, respectively. Astigmatism was defined as cylinder power worse than 0.5 D.

Results: Out of 1,745 selected individuals, the data of 1,431 participants were analyzed after implementing the exclusion criteria 58.8% of the participants were female and the mean age of the participants was 23.8±3.8 years (range, 18-32 years). Myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism were seen in 41.7% (95%CI 38.7-44.7), 7.8% (95%CI 6.2-9.4), and 25.6% (95%CI 23-28.3) of the students in this study, respectively. The prevalence of myopia increased significantly with age (OR=1.16 1.12-1.20 p<0.001). The prevalence of hyperopia was significantly higher in females (OR=2.1 1.1-3.7 p=0.025) and decreased significantly with age (OR=0.87 0.81-0.94 p=0.001). The prevalence of astigmatism increased significantly with age. Moreover, 6% of the students had anisometropia and 1.2% had high myopia.

Conclusion: The prevalence of myopia was considerably high in these students therefore, attention to this age group to identify and correct the refractive errors should receive priority in the health system.