Prevalence of latent squint with its clinical features.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to find the prevalence of latent squint in apparently normal people and the major clinical symptoms experienced by them.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study we studied 75 Students of a public sector medical college coming to the Ophthalmology ward of Services Hospital Lahore for a duration of 3 months. We examined and interviewed the subjects after taking verbal consent using the questionnaire method. SPSS was used to analyze the data. We designed the study to see if screening of phoria by the ophthalmologists should be made mandatory for all the patients visiting for refraction especially children under 10 years of age.

RESULTS: Total of 75 students were examined and interviewed. 40% of students were diagnosed to have a latent squint. Students having phoria presented mainly with complaints of sleepiness during the study (76.6%), sensitivity to light (53.3%), Headache and eyestrain (43.3%), difficulty in accommodation (33.3%), omission of words (23.3%). Minor ratio presented with the symptoms of double vision (26.6%), avoidance to reading reaction (26.6%), blurring of vision (16%), and difficulty in depth perception (10%).

CONCLUSION: Significant number of medical students were found to have latent squint which was undiagnosed previously. Majority of such students had no previous knowledge about it.

KEYWORDS: Squint, phoria, heterophoria, latent squint, exophoria, esophoria.