On the self-assessment of ocular status and of visual functions by senior students at Russian medical universities (anonymous survey results)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment is a worldwide problem for the humanity in general, including students. AIM: to conduct a rough estimate of the visual system status in senior medical students at Russian universities taking a training according to General Medicine educational program 31.05.01 (specialty) and having completed the ophthalmology course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: an online anonymous survey of students from five universities in various cities of the country was conducted using an original interactive questionnaire. Answers were received from 549 respondents, predominantly women (n = 425, 77.4%), mean age 22.4 ± 0,06 years. RESULTS: Only 42.7% of students rated their vision as “excellent” or “good.” The most common refractive error according to the survey participants’ self-assessment was myopia, which was reported by 56.1% of them, while 21.9% of respondents reported that they did not know their clinical refraction; 25.5% of students confirmed the presence of astigmatism. 56.9% of respondents use optical correction, glasses being the most popular option. 76.7% of the respondents had their vision testing, and 64.5% visited an ophthalmologist within the last year. Any other concomitant ocular condition (refractive errors excluded) was reported by 4.9% of students (most frequently various types of vitreoretinal pathology, dry eye syndrome, and strabismus were mentioned). 57.9% of respondents believe their vision to have worsened over the past few years, and excessive visual stress was considered the leading cause, reported by 57.2% of the study participants. The respondents rated the importance of having a good vision at 9.25 ± 0.06 points on an arbitrary scale from 1 (minimum) to 10 (maximum) points. CONCLUSIONS: Senior students at Russian medical universities highly appreciate the importance of good vision, while more than half of respondents have visual impairments, use optical correction, and also believe that their vision continues to deteriorate. Insufficient awareness of some students about their vision and gaps in ophthalmological knowledge were revealed.