CLEARING THE BLUR: A STUDY TO COMPARE THE PREVALENCE AND PATTERN OF REFRACTIVE ERRORS AMONG MEDICAL AND NON-MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction: It has been recorded that medical students tend to have the most reported visual defects among other professions. The medical curriculum demands prolonged hours of reading and related visually tiring tasks for many years, most of which are those of prime youth. This study was a cross sectional observational comparative study between medical students with non medical graduates of our university. This research assesses the common refractive errors and focuses on likely contributory factors to the visual defects among the medical students vis-à-vis other students of the same age.  Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the medical students and other graduates of the in Jaipur National University, Jaipur, Rajasthan. Ours is a cross sectional observational study where we interviewed 300 medical students in their first and second professional years and compared them with 300 students pursuing graduation courses in Law, Arts and Engineering at our University. The data collection viz. administration of questionnaire and a clinical eye examination and results so obtained were tabulated in MS excel sheets. Appropriate statistical tests were applied and data was analysed using SPSS ver. 21. Results: Out of the students using visual aids, 67% belonged to Medical and 33% belonged to Non-Medical group.. Myopia appeared to be the most common refractory error among the students. Age group of analysis revealed that 57.9% of visual aid users had acquired refractive errors after the age of 17 years. There was a significant association between errors of refraction and use of digital devices (Fischer’s exact p value <0.005 ) Conclusions: The study conclusion revealed a definite increase in the prevalence in the refractory disorders, among the undergraduates, the most common being myopia. This was significantly more among the Medical undergraduates as compared to the Law, Arts and Engineering students. This research focuses on likely contributory factors to the visual defects among the medical students vis-à-vis other students of the same age. This serves to increase our own awareness and also a step in problem identification and planning of corrective strategies.