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Prevalence of refractive errors and visual impairment in university students
Author(s) -
Yekta A.A.,
Hashemi H.,
Khabazkhoob M.,
Ali S.B.,
Ostadimoghaddam H.,
Heravian J.,
Azimi A.,
MomeniMoghaddam H.
Publication year - 2017
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.1755-3768.2017.0f007
Subject(s) - astigmatism , refractive error , visual acuity , visual impairment , medicine , optometry , dioptre , subjective refraction , odds ratio , ophthalmology , population , optics , psychiatry , physics , environmental health , pathology
Purpose To determine the prevalence of refractive errors and visual impairment in a population of university students in Kazerun, south of Iran Methods Using multi‐stage sampling in all universities located in Kazerun, a number of university majors were selected as clusters. Then, proportional to the size, a number of students in each major were randomly selected to participate in the study. All participants underwent the measurement of visual acuity, non‐cycloplegic and subjective refraction, and corrected visual acuity. A spherical equivalent equal to or worse than −0.5 D and + 0.5 D was considered myopia and hyperopia, respectively. Astigmatism was defined as a cylinder power worse than −0.5 D. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity worse than 20/60 in the better eye. Results Of 1595 students that were invited, 1462 participated in the study (response rate = 91.66%). The prevalence of visual impairment was 2.19% (95% CI : 1.48–3.23), of whom 1.92% (95% CI : 1.27–2.88) had low vision and 0.27% (95% CI : 0.12–0.62) were blind. Refractive errors comprised 75% of the causes of visual impairment. The prevalence (95% CI ) of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism was 42.71% (39.71–45.77), 3.75% (2.85–4.51) and 29.46% (27.50–31.50), respectively. Totally, 49.03% (95% CI : 46.39–51.68) of the participants had at least one refractive error. Myopia and hyperopia were not correlated with age and gender. The odds of astigmatism in participants aged 26–27 years ( OR = 1.64; 95% CI : 1.03–2.61) was higher than subjects aged 18–19 years. Conclusions The prevalence of refractive errors, especially myopia is low in university students. Since refractive errors constitute a major part of visual impairment, university students should receive optical services to reduce their burden.