Prevalence of Refractive Errors in Army Air Force Soldiers in Isfahan, 2017 - 2018

Background: Refractive errors are a major reason for visual impairments that can occur at any age. One of the most important target populations for refractive errors investigation is the military population. Objectives: The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of refractive errors in Iranian Army Air Force soldiers who presented to Shahid Babaee Hospital of Isfahan. Methods: 500 male military soldiers with the age range of 18 to 29 years (mean age ± standard deviation (STD) 19.9 ± 1.6 years) were recruited in the study. We set the spherical equivalent (SE) based on dry retinoscopy cutoff points of -0.50 diopter (D) for myopia and + 0.50 D for hyperopia. The cylinder error of ≥ 0.75 D was considered as astigmatism. Results: The data of 500 consecutive participants complying with the inclusion/exclusion criteria were analyzed. All the 500 participants were men for whom, the overall prevalence of myopia (SE ≤ -0.50 D), hyperopia (SE ≥ 0.50 D), and astigmatism was 18.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5 - 22.5], 13.4% (95% CI: 10.5 - 16.7), and 20.8% (95% CI: 17.3 - 24.6), respectively. With-the-rule (WTR) and simple astigmatism were found to be more frequent. Conclusions: The results indicated that the prevalence of refractive errors in Iranian Army Air Force soldiers is significantly high despite the prior screening. Due to their visual activities during the military period, accurate optometric and ophthalmic examinations would be helpful.