Near vision symptoms and their association with refractive error and binocular vision function among medical sciences students

Background Near-vision-related symptoms are common among students who are often engaged in prolonged near work, such as reading and using digital devices. Objective To assess the occurrence of ocular symptoms and their associated visual functions among medical sciences students at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study included 58 participants conducted between May and July 2025. Each participant completed a validated Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) and underwent a comprehensive assessment of refraction, binocular vision and accommodative function. Results The findings revealed that 29.3% of participants were classified as symptomatic based on CISS. The most commonly reported symptom was difficulty retaining information after reading (48%), whereas the least reported symptom was the perception of words moving or jumping on the page (7%). Furthermore, uncorrected refractive error significantly influenced symptom severity; ametropic participants reported higher CISS scores (mean ± SD: 18.6 ± 7.5) than emmetropic participants (9.2 ± 5.3, p < 0.0001). No statistically significant associations were observed between CISS scores and binocular vision or accommodative function ( p > 0.05). Conclusion The findings highlight that near-vision-related symptoms are prevalent among university students and are significantly influenced by uncorrected refractive errors. Although no significant correlations were identified between symptom severity and binocular vision or accommodative function, these findings underscore the critical role of refractive correction and routine vision screening in academic populations.