Dr.(Brig) Parthasarathi Moulick, M05674
Purpose: To study progression and incidence of refractive errors in medical students. Methods:
Retrospective prospective study. 205 medical students examined for refractive errors and findings
compared with pre-admission data. Changes in spherical, cylindrical and maximum power in a
meridian (spherical plus cylindrical) analyzed and known risk factors for myopia documented.
Results: At 3 or more years, prevalence of myopia increased from 40% to 46.3%, incidence of new
refractive errors in emmetropes was 20.9% (13.9% myopia). Mean change in maximum refractive power
in right and left eyes was -0.17 (0.60)D and -0.19 (0.72)D while in myopes, change was found to
be -0.21 (0.75)D and -0.32 (0.99)D, (p<0.05). Urban background and parental history of myopia had significant association with prevalence of myopia. Conclusion: Students in a medical college have high prevalence of myopia, high incidence of adult onset myopia and statistically significant progression.
Leave a Comment