A Clinical Study on Prevalence of Refractive Errors without Presbyopia among the Patients Attending O.P.D. in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Assam

OBJECTIVES- To study the Prevalence of the Refractive Errors without Presbyopia among the patients attending O. P. D. (Out Patient Department) of the Assam Medical College& Hospital, Dibrugarh for the Ophthalmic problems. MATERIALS& METHODS- This is a prospective study conducted on 1, 000 patients attending O. P. D. of the Department of Ophthalmology in the Assam Medical College& Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam. The study was done from April, 2017 to January, 2018. The study was conducted based on the O. P. D. Procedures including Slit Lamp Examination, Ophthalmoscopic examination, and Dark-Room Procedures including Retinoscopy, Macular- Function Test, Visual Acuity with Snellens View Box& Snellens Near Vision Chart and Auto -Refraction etc. Schirmers- I Test and Synaptophore examination (for angle of deviation) whenever needed. RESULTS- A total number of 1, 000 patients were enrolled in the study, out of which 195 (19.50 %) were having myopia, 302 ( 30.20 %) were having myopia with astigmatism, 46 (4.60 %) were having hypermetropia, 58 (5.80 %) were having combined hypermetropia with astigmatism and 185 (18.50 %) were found to have astigmatism only i. e. Refractive Errors without Presbyopia. The incidence of Refractive Errors was found to be high (41.07 %) among 20 to 29 years of age group and in females (56.12 %). Most common incidence increases with the increasing age group and mainly associated with the Eye Lid and Adnexal diseases and Squint and Dry Eye Diseases. CONCLUSION- The prevalence of the Refractive Errors without Presbyopia is more in females than in males and school, college and university going age groups, mainly teenagers, attending to the O. P. D. of the Ophthalmology Department of our Hospital based study.