Profile of refractive error in Ekiti, south western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Refractive error is one of the eye disorders with the capability of causing visual impairment. We needed to know the various types and proportion of refractive errors seen in patients attending an eye clinic at the tertiary health centre.Aim: An observational study was carried out to determine the profile of refractive error in a southwestern Nigeria hospital.Methods: All new cases with the diagnosis of refractive error between January 2015 and December 2016 had autorefraction and subjective refraction to determine the types and values of refractive error. Data were analysed with SPSS 20. Statistical significance was inferred at p < 0.05.Results: Refractive error constituted 618 (21.4%) of the total new cases. The mean age was 39.3 ± 22.96 years. The male to female ratio was 1:1.8. Children constituted 25.7% of all the cases. The most common refractive error was myopia in 64.3%. A total of 312 (50.5%) patients had other co-existing ocular disorders with allergic conjunctivitis on the top of the list. The number of visually impaired reduced to 70 (5.64%) after the correction of existing refractive error with about 94.1% having their visual acuity restored to normal.Conclusion: Refractive error was a common eye disorder among our patients with the proportion of children about a quarter of all patients. We recommend that childhood refractive errors should be given prioritised attention in eye outreach programmes.