Fixation disparity and refractive error among first-year optometry students

Purpose: To determine the fixation disparity and refractive error of first-year optometry stu-dents to ascertain any relationship between them and also identify any association between fixa-tion disparity and visual symptoms at near.Method: It was an analytical cross-sectional study involving 85 participants aged 17 to 27 years (18.60 +/- 1.37), 41% of whom were males. Subjective refraction was done at 3 m and fixation dis-parity was measured with and without spectacle correction using the Wesson Fixation Disparity Card. All analysis was set within a 95% confidence interval with a p-value < 0.05 considered sta-tistically significant.Results: Refractive error ranged from 0.25 SEQ (spherical equivalent) to 5.50 SEQ. Mean fixation disparity ranged from 2.9 +/- 2.6 to 3.9 +/- 2.8 min arc. There was no statistically significant corre-lation between refractive error and fixation disparity without correction (r =-0.180, p = 0.098) and with correction (r = 0.155, p = 0.157). For fixation disparity in the ortho and exo direction, mean fixation disparity with correction of participants who experienced headaches during or after reading (5.1 +/- 2.6 min arc) was significantly higher (p = 0.032) than participants who did not (2.0 +/- 2.6 min arc).Conclusion: Myopia is common among first-year optometry students. Refractive error has no sig-nificant effect on fixation disparity. Headache is significantly associated with exo fixation dispar-ity at near.(c) 2022 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).