Prevalence of spectacle use and amblyopia among young people presenting to a tertiary care institution of Bihar

Introduction: This study intended to estimate the prevalence of spectacle use and distribution of amblyopia in young people presenting to the Ophthalmology outpatient department of a tertiary care institution of Bihar, India. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based prospective study was conducted over a period of 2 months amongst patients aged 1024 years with refractive errors (in one or both eyes), whose refractive status, use of spectacle sat about the time of checkup and presence or absence of amblyopia were recorded. Results: Of 1482 young people, 335 (22.6%) were already using spectacle sat about the time of check-up. Of these, 276 (82.4%) had myopic errors in one or both eyes, 58 (17.3%) had hypermetropic errors in one or both eyes, and one (0.3%) had mixed astigmatism in both eyes. Of the 1257 (84.8% of all) young people whose both eyes were ametropic and included for consideration, 186 (14.8%) were found to have anisometropia and of these, 78 (about 42%) met the criteria for amblyopia. Overall 106 (about 7.2%, 95% CI 6.0-8.7) young people were found to be amblyopic (odds ratio = 54.7, p<0.0001). Conclusion: Only a small proportion of young people with refractive errors presenting to our tertiary OPD were spectacle-users, indicating inadequacy or lack of utilization of refraction facilities or motivation amongst patients. A strong association of anisometropia with amblyopia was observed. These findings emphasize the need for early detection and correction of refractive errors through community and school-based screening programmes to prevent amblyopia.