Evaluation of refractive error and glass use

Abstract

Poor vision is the most common presenting complain of patients seeking ophthalmological advice. Errors of refraction are the most common cause of subnormal vision. It is regarded as just deviation from the normal refractive state of the eye; most of the refractive errors are within the physiological limits of the eye. Myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism are well recognized refractive errors, glasses are the standard and the most common method in use to treat those defects. Assessment of the refractive state of the eye to identify the amount and the type of the defect and prescribing the suitable glasses is all what is needed in most of cases. In few patients, their condition is not suitable for glass use and other methods are advised to correct their errors. Many patients advised to use glasses are not willing to use them others don’t accept the suitable lenses to correct the defect. This prospective study is aimed to identify various types of refractive errors in Misurata, the accepted lenses, the relation between the error to visual acuity, the best corrected vision, patient welling for glass use and identification of other treatment modalities when needed. Visual acuity recording and refraction were done up on 204 patients. Cases with poor vision due other causes and cases were refracted under cycloplegia were excluded. In the age group 40 years or less myopia (55.5%) is commoner than hypermetropia (13.5%). In the same age group, 63% of patients are presented with visual acuities FC, 6/60, 6/36. In patients wearing glasses 83% presented with unaided visual acuities FC, 6/60, 6/36.  While 90% presented with visual acuity better than 6/36 with their own glasses. Seven percent of eyes found to have myopia, astigmatic 87%, 48.5% were found to have compound myopic astigmatism.