Prevalence of Near Esophoria among Young Adults in Imo State University Owerri, Nigeria

Abstract

Vergence anomalies describe the anomalous disjunctive movement of the eyes in which there is a resultant convergent or divergent movement of the eyes, causing the eyes to inaccurately fixate and stabilize an image on the retina. Basic heterophoria is a common vergence anomaly, with esophoria as a form of heterophoria characterized by the inward deviation of the eye towards the nose upon dissociation of binocular fusion. Esophoria may be expressed at far (6m) or at near (40cm) and is associated with various symptoms as diplopia, headaches, blurred vision, poor concentration, and eye strain. This cross sectional study assessed the prevalence of esophoria at near among young adults in the Imo State University community, with the objective to determine the influence of age and gender on near esophoria among the study population. This was done by conducting the Von Graefe phoria test at near on eligible consenting subjects, 400 students aged 18 – 30 years old, in the Optometry clinic of the Imo State University, Owerri. The study findings revealed a high prevalence of esophoria at near, confirmed in 47% of the study population. Analysis of the findings with the ANOVA statistical tool, revealed that esophoria at near showed no significant relationship with age or gender in this study. The findings of this study reveal that the presence of esophoria at near in the young adult may be more commonly present, thus the near phoria status in young adults especially engaged in near work ought to be carefully evaluated routinely by clinicians.