Profile of Refractive Errors Among Mansoura University Students

Introduction: To assess the prevalence of refractive errors, identifying the associated factors, and to correlate demographic characteristics (sex, and family history) with different types of refractive errors among Mansoura University students.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study included 400 students from Mansoura university students including both practical and theoretical faculties during the year 2019.The recruited sample was attending to Students’ Hospital, Mansoura University. All included students underwent measurement of uncorrected (UCVA), and the BCVA in decimal notation. Cycloplegic objective refraction was measured using auto-refractometer with cyclopentolate 1% (Alcon). A questionnaire was used to detect Socio-demographic characteristics of studied students (age, gender, academic year, and residency), Medical History, comorbidities, and refractive errors history.
Results: Myopia was found in (34%) of the students. The most prevalent type of myopia was low myopia (75%). Hyperopia was found in (3%) of the students. Astigmatism was found in (39%) of students. The majority of students with refractive errors were female accounted for (50.4%), while males accounted for (49.6%). Most of the students with refractive errors were from rural residence (51.9%), where (48.1%) were from urban residence, the medical faculties showed the highest prevalence of refractive errors (34.1%), followed by Engineering, Computer science, and Education (15.5%), (14.4%) respectively.
Conclusion: The highest rates of errors among Mansoura university students were myopia and astigmatism specially at medical colleges. The profile of refractive status of that specific population needs further attention, as long-term vision impairment will face the future adult population unless specific actions are taken.