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.
Hashemi H, Khabazkhoob M, Yazdani N, Ostadimoghaddam H, Derakhshan A, Soroush S, et al . The Prevalence of Refractive Errors Among Iranian University Students. Iranian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2014; 26 (3) :129-135 URL: http://irjo.org/article-1-1002-en.html