Factors Associated With Myopia in Patients Presenting at Eye OPD of Mayo Hospital Lahore

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find out the proportion of myopia in the patients presenting at Eye OPD of Mayo hospital Lahore. Risk factors for myopia were explored. The association of myopia was seen with different environmental factors. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive cross sectional study. The patients included in the study were 100 who had more than 0.5D of myopia. A questionnaire assessed the patients’ socioeconomic background, family history of myopia, education level and exposure to near work followed by visual acuity assessment and a full eye examination. Non-cycloplegic objective and subjective refraction was done on all participants with visual acuity of worse than 6/6 in either eye without an obvious cause. Results: Out of the 100 patients 72% were females and 28% were males. Myopia was more prevalent in age group 16-20 years (64% patients were students. The education level was high in myopic patients, 32% were graduates and 5% were post graduate. There was no association of myopia with family history of myopia (father, mother, brother, and sisters). The near work done per day (reading, watching TV, using computer, and religious) by the patients was >8 hours in 28% patients. The patients doing 5-8hrs near work daily were 25%. There was no association of myopia with any history of illness. Conclusion: It was concluded from this study that the proportion of myopia was significant in the patients presenting at OPD. There were no significant association was found between myopia and other environmental factors.

Keywords: Myopia, near work, socioeconomic status, educational attainment.