Abstract
Purpose :
To characterize the prevalence of visual conditions in a medical school population, and to assess the impact of visual conditions on interest in surgical versus non-surgical subspecialties. We hypothesized that medical students have low rates of visual impairment compared to the general population and that visual conditions are associated with a decreased interest in surgical subspecialties.
Methods :
An anonymous Qualtrics survey was distributed to current students at a U.S. medical school using email and social media platforms. The survey consisted of three sections: 1) demographic information including age, class year, and subspecialty of interest; (2) history of strabismus including type of strabismus and use of eye patches; and (3) history of other ocular conditions or forms of visual impairment including myopia and color-blindness. Responses with a 100% question completion rate were analyzed.
Results :
108 responses were recorded total for a response rate of 21%, and 91 were marked as complete. Respondents were 69% female with an average age of 25.9 years. Only 1.1% of respondents reported being previously diagnosed with strabismus and 0% reported a prior history of amblyopia. 2.2% reported colorblindness, 4.4% reported difficulty with depth perception, and a large majority of 66.7% reported being myopic. Students interested in a surgical subspecialty were significantly less likely to have visual impairment, assessed by reporting inability to correct one or both eyes to at least 20/40, than those interested in a non-surgical subspecialty (0% vs. 11.8%, X2(1, N=91)=5.04, p=0.02).
Conclusions :
Though medical students have low rates of colorblindness, depth perception deficiency, amblyopia, and strabismus requiring treatment, the presence of these visual conditions does not preclude attending medical school, and medical students do appear to have a high prevalence of myopia. While a larger sample size is needed to more definitively compare these rates to population estimates, exploring these topics can illuminate the impact of visual impairment on medical students, particularly in selection of surgical versus non-surgical subspecialty. Understanding visual conditions and impairment in this population can foster both inclusivity and interest in medical training.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.