Myopia: an increasing problem for Iraqi medical students at the university of Babylon: a cross-sectional study

Myopia is increasingly prevalent among medical students, with prolonged near work activities and digital screen exposure being major contributing factors. In this study, the authors sought to better investigate the prevalence of myopia and describe risk factors associated with myopia among Iraqi medical students at Babylon University, College of Medicine. A cross-sectional study was conducted among participants from February 2024 to March 2024. Participants completed a Google Form questionnaire containing questions about age, gender, grade in college, age of myopia diagnosis, power of lens and diopters, method of reading, average time spent on daily reading, average time spent on electronic devices, sleep patterns, presence of myopia in left eye, right eye, or both eyes, glasses usage and compliance, family history of myopia, eye color, and other eye diagnoses (dry eye, hyperopia, previous or recent laser eye surgery). Data analysis was performed by SPSS. A total of 1100 medical students (814 females and 286 males) participated in the survey with a standard deviation of 2.60 and an average age of 21.5 years, ranging from 17 to 26 years. The prevalence of myopia was 64.09%. A total of 74.32% of females and 25.67% of males were myopic. The majority of myopic students (51.7%) had lens power between − 0.5 and 6D, and (44%) had lens power between 0.5D and 1.5D. The greatest percentage of myopia (72%) was among fifth-year students. Out of 705 medical students with myopia, 481 (68.23%) gave a positive family history of myopia, whereas 224 (31.77%) had none. Among the medical students who study more than 6 h per day (70.62%), there are myopic (29.38%) and non-myopic. The high prevalence of myopia (67.72%) was among students using electronic gadgets. The prevalence of myopia became lower (55%) among students who use printed materials in studying. Among students who stay up late the prevalence of myopia was 64.62%. The incidence of myopia was high among Iraqi medical students at Babylon University. Our findings highlight the significant role of genetics, digital device usage, prolonged reading hours, dry eye syndrome, and late-night habits in increasing the risk of myopia among medical students.