Prevalence and progression of refractive errors among medical students.

Wearing spectacles was a province of adults over 40 years age till half century earlier. Now we find more children and adolescents wearing spectacles. There have been dramatic rise both in prevalence as well as progression of refractive errors especially myopia in children and adolescents. Various studies in Asian population demonstrate a rise in refractive error (RE) among school and college students in epidemic proportions. Studies in Singapore and Taiwan have shown a prevalence of more than 80% among medical students (1, 2). However European Caucasian population seems to have less prevalence compared to Asian (3, 4). Studies among Indian school chi ldren show a prevalence of refractive errors of 25% or less, however studies among medical students are lacking (5, 6). This study was undertaken to explore the prevalence of refractive errors among medical students in Gujarat, India as wel l as to study factors a f fect ing i ts progression among them.