REFRACTIVE ERRORS AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS

Abstract

Genetic, cultural, and environmental factors play key roles in the prevalence and distribution of refractive errors. More youths in Nigeria today use medicated glasses to enhance vision than we had in the past decades. This study is aimed at revealing the prevalence of refractive errors among students of Madonna University Nigeria, Elele campus, Rivers state. One thousand questionnaires were randomly distributed to the 3rd year undergraduate students in various departments in the College of Medicine, including anatomy, physiology, medical laboratory science, optometry, public health, and pharmacy. Eight hundred and fifty-two (85.2%) out of the 1000 of the questionnaires shared were retrieved and analyzed using simple percentages. Data collected included information on age, sex, state of origin, place of residence, and presence of refractive errors. Our results reveal that the incidence of refractive errors was highest in the North-west region of the country having (93.55%). This was followed by South-west (50.51%), South-south (32.88%), South-east (27.67%), North-central (18.03%), and North-east (15.79%). The highest occurring refractive error among the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria is myopia (54%), followed by hyperopia (21.01%), astigmatism (15.30%), and presbyopia (9.46%). This work represents the first attempt at having a comprehensive outlook at the statistics of refractive errors among Nigerian youths from across the country.