Research
Refractive Error, Ocular Biometry and Oculomotor Function: The Prevalence of Myopia and Its Potential Risk Factors in the Middle East, with an Investigation of Dynamic Accommodation Responses and Axial Length Fluctuations in Young Myopic Adults
The main experimental work of this thesis has been a cross-sectional study of the prevalence of refractive error and its biometric correlates in Middle Eastern adults.
The prevalence of myopia in 3000 Middle Eastern adults (age range 17-40 years) was similar to previously reported levels of myopia in the West.
Myopia was associated with a higher level of education, occupations with a high nearwork demand and positive family history of myopia; all of which have been identified as risk factors for myopia development and progression.
A number of recommendations for further work on the prevalence of refractive error in the Middle East are suggested.