Publication:

Interconnection between pre-presbyopia, asthenopia and refractive errors among handcrafting workers

Background The aim and objectives of the study were to determine the effect of hand-crafting on different types of refractive errors and to verify whether there is an interconnection between asthenopia and pre presbyopia with such kind of work, and also to evaluate the effect of hand-crafting on pre-presbyopia, asthenopia and refractive errors.

Methods This is a cross sectional study and for this study, 4800 subjects aged 16-35 years were selected. Visual acuity, retinoscopy, flashlight examination, ophthalmoscopy, and pencil push-up test were performed on each subject. A questionnaire was also completed with the information given by the subjects after informed consent.

Results For this study, a total of 4800 patients, 35% were males and 65% females, aged 16 to 35 years were selected to check for eye strain, headache, decrease in near vision before the age of 35 years, and whether or not any type of refractive error was present in the sample. 70% of patients had near visual acuity of N6, 17% had N8, and 13% were between N10-N12. In this study, there were only 13% emmetropes, 42% myopes, 28% hyperopes and 17% astigmatism. In the N6 group, 57.1% suffered from ocular complaints and 62.8% from headaches. In the N8 group, 88.2% had ocular strain and 94.1% had a headache. In group N10-N12, 69.2% had ocular strain and 92.3% had a headache.

Conclusions There is a strong interconnection between refractive errors and pre-presbyopia, but a strong interconnection with asthenopia in professionals of hand-crafting occupations.