PREVALENCE OF MYOPIA AMONG ADOLESCENTS AT KING ABDUL-AZIZ MEDICAL CITY, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Introduction: Myopia or near sightedness is a refractive error in which the optical power of the eye is too strong for the equivalent axial length. As the prevalence of nearsightedness is increasing worldwide, the severity of its effect is also expected to be on the rise.

Purpose:to identify the magnitude of myopia among adolescents visiting King Abdul Aziz Medical City, a tertiary care setting in Riyadh, acknowledge the extent and severity of myopia among adolescents, identify severity of myopia with respect to age and gender and determine which eye is more affected by myopia.

Methods: this was a retrospective cross-sectional study at KAMC-R in which charts of adolescent patients between (12-18 years old) without any systemic disease or congenital anomaly who visited the ophthalmology clinic between January 2016 and December 2016 was reviewed & prevalence of myopia was reported.

Conclusion:There is high prevalence of myopia among younger participants predominately 12 years old and it was estimated as 40% in right eye and 38% in left eye. Also, highest prevalence of hyperopia was found among younger participants specially 12 years old which was estimated as 32% in right eye and 34% in left eye. There was statistically significant difference between prevalence of myopia and hyperopia and age group, younger ages were more prominent to have myopia and hyperopia.