Refractive errors among patients attending the ophthalmology department of a tertiary hospital in Mid-Western Nepal
Keywords:
myopia, hypermetropia, refractive errorAbstract
Introduction: Uncorrected errors of refraction are the largest cause of impared vision and blindness worldwide. If these errors of refraction are not identified on time they might lead to decreased productivity and dimunision of physical quality of life as well. So, this study was done to assess the magnitude and pattern of refractive error among patients attending the OPD of the newly established ophthalmology department of the tertiary hospital in mid-western part of Nepal.
Materials and Methods: A Prospective cross-sectional study including all patients more than 5yrs of age attending the OPD of the ophthalmology department with unaided V/A less than 20/20 but improved with pin hole between 1st October - 30th December 2021 was conducted. All patients except pseudophakia, aphakic and patients suffering from any ocular diseases were excluded.
Result: Out of total 528 patients with refractive error, three hundred twenty (61.6%) were female and 238(38.4%) patients were of male. Age of patients ranged from 5 years till 76 years with mean age being 34.08 with standard deviation 16.6. 202 (38.3%) patients between age group 20-39 years had maximum incident of refractive error followed by 148 (28%) in age group 40-59 years.
Conclusion: This study concludes that in a OPD setting of a tertiary care hospital the most common pattern of refractive error in general population was found to be myopia.
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