Aim: To calculate the prevalence of emmetropia, myopia, hyperopia, and amblyopia.
Method: Cross sectional, descriptive, population-based study, studying 212 randomly selected Lebanese patients of Armenian origin, aged from 15 to 45 years, from June 1st till September 30th 2003. The patients presenting with no exclusion factors are examined, before and after cycloplegia. Mean keratometry and mean ocular axial length are measured for each eye.
Results: 212 patients are examined. Mean age is 33.6 years. Sex ratio F/M is 1.94. The prevalence of hyperopia, emmetropia and myopia is 14.6%, 51%, and 34.4% before cycloplegia, and 50%, 16.5% and 33.5% after cycloplegia, respectively. 14.9% of patients wearing myopic corrections were not found myopic after cycloplegia. The prevalence of amblyopia is 19.8%. Most of hyperopic patients do not wear eyeglasses (p = 0.00000101), whereas most of the myopic patients wear eyeglasses (p = 0.00000024).
Conclusion: Prevalence of hyperopia is very high (50%) in this group of Lebanese Armenian population, as well as amblyopia (19.8%). Moreover, 6.7% of myopic patients wearing eyeglasses are not truly myopic.