The study of visual acuity and fields using visometry and perimetry methods in 1st-year students of Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko

Full Text

Relevance. Even the ancient Greeks noted that "the eyes are more accurate witnesses than the ears." In fact, people receive 90% of all information through their eyes"[1]. Currently, the problem we have raised is quite relevant, since in the modern world, full of a diverse load on the visual analyzer, preventive measures are important and even necessary. Students experience great discomfort during training, which affects both the work of the visual analyzer and their overall health.The purpose of our work is to determine visual acuity among medical university students, measure the boundaries of visual fields; evaluate and interpret the results; identify the relationship between visual acuity and changes in visual fields; create a booklet for the prevention of visual impairment (a special exercise program and pharmacotherapeutic correction).          
  We suggested that in higher education institutions, when visual analyzer disorders are detected, it is necessary to prevent and thereby slow down the process of visual impairment.          

Materials and methods. To achieve this goal, we used standard vision testing methods such as the Sivtsev Table and the Foster perimeter [2]. Thus, we conducted a vision study in 91 VSMU students aged 17 to 21 years. In the experiment, 26 male and 65 female representatives were examined.      
The work has been successfully carried out, and the following results have been achieved.            
1.  Of the 91 subjects, 37 people (41%) have good eyesight - emmetropia, 15 people (17%) – mild myopia, 36 people (39%) – moderate myopia, 3 people (3%) – hypermetropia. That is, 37 people have good eyesight, 54 people have visual impairments.           
2. We have identified differences in the visual fields of the left and right eyes. The results of the study are shown in Table 1 (the average value for the sample). It was proved that there is a large width of the visual field in the left direction for the left eye and in the right direction for the right eye for all colors (Table 1).  We found out that the field of view in black and white is always larger than for any of the color fields for the right and left eyes in all directions, this has been proven by us experimentally [2].

Table 1

Dependence of the visual field on the examined eye (left, right)

Colour	Direction	The subjects
		left eye	right eye
White	From above	45,0	47,2
	Below	67,5	62,2
	Leftward	85,0	78,3
	On the right	58,0	79,2
Red	From above	35,0	32,0
	Below	38,1	39,0
	Leftward	49,3	43,4
	On the right	45,2	49,0
Blue	From above	39,3	41,3
	Below	41,0	39,0
	Leftward	58,0	49,0
	On the right	41,1	49,0
Green	From above	38,0	43,0
	Below	35,0	31,0
	Leftward	53,0	43,0
	On the right	39,0	46,0

 

3. We also found a relationship between visual acuity impairment and changes in visual fields[3]. Our study identified 15 people with mild myopia and 36 people with moderate myopia. We have identified a correlation between visual acuity impairment and narrowing of visual fields. Both the first and second groups have a narrowing of the visual fields (Tables 3, 4). But in students with a mild degree of myopia, the field of vision is slightly narrowed, and in 5 out of 15 people we observed the norm. In the group with moderate myopia, narrowing of the visual fields was observed in all subjects. Of the 36 people, 35% have a severe narrowing of the visual fields. Subjects with hypermetropia have fairly wide fields of vision (Table 5).
   Table 2.
   Visual field boundaries of students with emmetropia
   (average values, 37 people)

Colour	Boundaries of visual fields
	external		internal		upper one		the lower one
	p	l	p	l	p	l	p	l
white	83	89	83	69	67	65	72	75
red	45	53	54	55	34	37	43	41
blue	53	65	54	45	53	41	43	45
green	52	56	50	43	47	44	35	37

Table 3.
Visual field boundaries of students with mild myopia
(average values, 15 people)

Colour	Boundaries of visual fields
	external		internal		upper one		the lower one
	p	l	p	l	p	l	p	l
white	79	83	79	53	43	41	62	65
red	43	49	50	46	32	35	39	38
blue	49	58	50	42	41	39	41	42
green	43	53	46	39	43	38	31	35

Table 4.
Visual field boundaries of students with moderate myopia
(average values, 36 people)

Colour	Boundaries of visual fields
	external		internal		upper one		the lower one
	p	l	p	l	p	l	p	l
white	67	81	75	51	41	39	61	63
red	41	44	46	41	31	31	35	36
blue	45	51	44	39	31	37	39	38
green	35	50	42	35	39	34	31	34

Table 5.
Visual field boundaries of students with hypermetropia
(average values, 3 people)

Colour	Boundaries of visual fields
	external		internal		upper one		the lower one
	p	l	p	l	p	l	p	l
white	90	90	70	60	50	60	75	80
red	80	70	55	50	40	30	40	55
blue	90	90	60	50	50	65	55	70
green	55	60	50	35	40	60	50	60

When analyzing the tables, we revealed the following: the boundaries of the black-and-white field in students with mild to moderate myopia narrow significantly in comparison with subjects with emmetropia (Table.2); the boundaries of the colored fields also change downward, but not as diagnostically as the boundaries of the black-and-white field.          
Thus, we have found that if a person has moderate myopia, then we will also observe a narrowing of the visual fields. That is why, at an ophthalmologist's appointment, an examination is carried out in all directions.          
We also studied in detail the drugs necessary for the prevention of visual impairment[4]. Irifrin eye drops are part of the pharmacological group of alpha-adrenomimetics. They cause the release of norepinephrine, constriction of conjunctival vessels and dilation of the pupil, and also accelerate the drainage of intraocular fluid. The drug is successfully used for eye pathologies of an inflammatory nature or provoked by heavy visual loads. Taufon drops can be called a universal remedy for the treatment and prevention of diseases such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. Their periodic use prevents the occurrence of many problems.   Blueberry forte is a complex of vitamins for vision, which is necessary to maintain vision and relieve eye strain. Thus, we have studied the properties and effects on the body of the medicines Irifrin and Taufon, as well as the Blueberry Forte complex. These remedies can be recommended for the prevention of visual impairment.        
We introduced the students to the basic rules of visual hygiene, offered them a set of exercises to relieve fatigue, and a set of exercises to prevent myopia. They also revealed a link between good eyesight and proper nutrition, including various vitamins [7]. After studying these sets of exercises and information on the prevention of visual impairment, we have released a booklet "How to preserve your eyesight."         
Based on the results of our work, we have come to the following conclusions.       
 1. Many 1st year students have varying degrees of myopia, and they also have a narrowing of their visual fields. That is why it is important for them to perform daily exercises for prevention, as well as for those with good eyesight who need to perform exercises to relieve fatigue and strain from their eyes when working on a computer and with a significant learning load.      
 2.  We achieved the following goals: we determined visual acuity, measured the boundaries of the visual fields of medical university students; and identified the relationship between decreased vision and narrowing fields.       
3. We have developed a special exercise program and analyzed the means necessary to prevent visual impairment, and created a booklet on prevention and pharmacotherapeutic correction of vision.          
We performed the following actions based on the results of our research work (practical significance):- they told the students about visual impairments, gave recommendations to visit an ophthalmologist; - created and distributed their own booklet on prevention and pharmacotherapeutic correction of vision.

About the authors

Dmitry Petrenko

Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Воронежский государственный медицинский университет имени Н.Н. Бурденко» Министерства здравоохранения Российской Федерации

Author for correspondence.
Email: pet.dima077@mail.ru
Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya str., Voronezh, 394036

References

Supplementary files

There are no supplementary files to display.