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Comparative Study
. 2008 Mar-Apr;56(2):139-44.
doi: 10.4103/0301-4738.39119.

Comparison of refractive errors and factors associated with spectacle use in a rural and urban South Indian population

Raju Prema  1 , Ronnie George, Ramesh Sathyamangalam Ve, Arvind Hemamalini, Mani Baskaran, Govindaswamy Kumaramanickavel, McCarty Catherine, Lingam Vijaya
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of refractive errors and factors associated with spectacle use in a rural and urban South Indian population

Raju Prema et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the prevalence of refractive errors and factors associated with spectacle use in a rural and urban south Indian population.

Materials and methods: Four thousand eight hundred subjects (age> 39 years) each from rural and urban Tamil Nadu were enumerated for a population-based study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmic evaluation including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), objective and subjective refraction. Out of 3924 rural responders 63.91% and out of 3850 urban responders 81.64% were phakic in the right eye with BCVA of 20/40 or better and were included in the study. Association of spectacle use and refractive errors with different parameters were analysed using logistic regression.

Statistical analysis: Chi square, t test, Chi square for trend and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for analysis.

Results: Spectacle use was significantly higher and positively associated with literacy and employment in the urban population. The age and gender-adjusted prevalence of emmetropia, myopia of spherical equivalent (SE) < or =-0.50 diopter sphere (DS), high myopia (SE < or =-5.00DS), hyperopia (SE> 0.50DS) and astigmatism < or = 0.50 diopter cylinder (DC) were 46.8%, 31.0%, 4.3%, 17.9% and 60.4% respectively in the rural population and 29.0%, 17.6%, 1.5%, 51.9%, 59.1% respectively in the urban population. The prevalence of emmetropia decreased with age ( p p = 0.001) and were associated with nuclear sclerosis ( p = 0.001) in both populations. Hyperopia was commoner among women than men ( p = 0.001); was positively associated with diabetes mellitus ( p = 0.008) in the rural population and negatively with nuclear sclerosis ( p = 0.001) in both populations.

Conclusion: Spectacle use was found to be significantly lower in the rural population. The pattern of refractive errors was significantly different between both populations.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of refractive errors in each group in rural and urban populations
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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