Prevalence of Minor Ocular Problems and Visual Disturbances among Dental Students.

BINTI MOHD AZLAN SUNIL, NURUL SYAMIMI; GANAPATHY, DHANRAJ; DURAISAMY, REVATHI

Undetected and untreated ocular conditions or diseases may lead to loss of vision and because of this, ocular health is becoming an increasingly important issue in the healthcare sector and society as a whole. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of minor ocular problems and visual disturbances among dental students. The survey included the distribution of questionnaires to dental students from a private dental hospital during a one-week period. The criterion for selection was first to fifth year undergraduate dental students and absence of medical conditions. The questionnaire included information on age and gender, presence of ocular problems or visual impairment, knowledge of personal visual problems and whether the problems were corrected. Data was analysed using SPSS Software and chi-square test was done to find out association between variables. A total of 183 undergraduate dental students (74.9% females, 25.1% males) participated in the survey. 61.7% had minor ocular problems and this was more common in males and significantly more in the age group 25-29 years (p<0.05). Refractive error was the most common ocular problem with a higher prevalence in females and those in the age group 20-24 years. However, this finding was statistically not significant (p>0.05). Within the limits of this study, it was observed that there was high prevalence of minor ocular problems and visual disturbances among dental students and ocular problems were more common in males and in those in the age group 25-29 years.

EYE diseases; DENTAL students; VISION disorders; REFRACTIVE errors; ASTHENOPIA

International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research (09752366), 2020, p67

0975-2366

Academic Journal

10.31838/ijpr/2020.SP2.018