S Afr Optom 2012 71(1) 32-38 The prevalence of refractive error in three com- munities of Cape Town, South Africa M Otutua, J Nachegab, J Harveyc, and D Meyerd a, d Community Health Division, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, 7505 South Africa bProfessor and Director, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, 7505 South Africa cCentre for Statistical Support, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, 7505 South Africa. dProfessor and Head, Division of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stellen- bosch, Tygerberg, 7505 South Africa Received 7 March 2011; revised version accepted 3 February 2012. <
[email protected]> Abstract lent value in the better eye of −1.00D or worse and hyperopia as the spherical equivalent value in the The prevalence, distribution and demographic as- better eye of ≥1.00D. Astigmatism was defined as sociations of refractive error in three communities −0.50 cylinder or worse in the better eye. in Cape Town, South Africa were assessed. In this The prevalence of myopia was 17.4% with cross-sectional study, a clustered random sampling a 90% confidence interval (CI) of 12.65-22.15, procedure was used to recruit participants (n=176; hyperopia was 13.4% (90% CI 9.13-17.67), and age=40.6±14.7 years; males=76, females=96) from astigmatism was 60% (90% CI 53.86-66.14). Khayelitsha, Milnerton, and Mitchell’s Plain. From Myopia was found to be significantly associated March to May 2010, participants underwent autore- with race and age; while hyperopia was signifi- fraction and subjective refraction eye examinations.