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The prevalence of refractive errors among underserved rural areas in Iran
Author(s) -
Yekta A.A.,
Hashemi H.,
Khabazkhoob M.,
Ostadimoghaddam H.,
Malekifar A.,
Nabovati P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2016.0259
Subject(s) - medicine , residence , refractive error , optometry , cross sectional study , demography , cluster sampling , logistic regression , visual acuity , rural area , ophthalmology , environmental health , population , pathology , sociology
Purpose To determine the prevalence of myopia and hyperopia and related factors in underserved rural areas in Iran. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, two rural regions of north and south in Iran were randomly selected through a multi‐stage cluster sampling. After selecting samples, participants had non‐cycloplegic refraction, cycloplegic refraction (<20 years old age) and measurement of uncorrected and corrected visual acuity. Results Of the 3,851 invitees participated, 3,271 of them were examined in this study. The prevalence of myopia and hyperopia was 23% (95%CI: 19.6–26.4) and 21.59% (95% CI: 17.92–25.26), respectively in total sample. In those subjects ≤20 years of age, the prevalence of myopia and hyperopia based on cycloplegic refraction was 5.69% (95% CI: 4.42–6.96) and 3.25% (95% CI: 1.49–5.02), respectively. In over 20‐year‐olds subjects, these values were 29.47% (95% CI: 26.26–32.68) and 28.44% (95% CI: 24.40–32.49), respectively. Multiple logistic regression models indicted that myopia prevalence significantly correlated with age, education level, cataracts, and region of residence, and hyperopia prevalence correlated with age and region of residence. Conclusions The results of this study indicated that the prevalence of hyperopia and myopia were lower compared to the other studies in urban areas of Iran, but overall, hyperopia had a high prevalence in this study and other Iranian investigations. The prevalence of refractive errors significantly differs between northern and southern rural regions of Iran.