Differences in Ocular Axial Length Between Genders and Refractive Error Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study at the Yaoundé Central Hospital, Cameroon.

Background: Refractive errors are a common global health issue. Previous studies in Cameroon have predominantly identified hyperopia and hyperopic astigmatism as the primary refractive errors. This study aimed to determine ocular axial length (OAL) values in Cameroonian adults and to evaluate differences between genders and refractive error groups.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the ophthalmology unit of Yaoundé Central Hospital. Participants aged 20-40 years who consented and had no intraocular pathologies or craniofacial malformations were included. OAL was measured using A-scan ultrasonography, and objective refraction was performed following cycloplegia. Age, gender, and refractive error were recorded. Statistical analyses, including Student's t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used with a significance level of p < 0.05.

Results: A total of 200 participants, predominantly female (75.5%), were included. The mean age was 26.36 ± 5.01 years. Men had significantly longer OAL (24.01 ± 0.88 mm) compared to women (23.47 ± 0.84 mm) (adjusted p-value = 0.00). While OAL was slightly larger in myopes and shorter in hypermetropes, these differences were not statistically significant. However, OAL increased significantly with increasing myopia severity (p = 0.000) and decreased with increasing hyperopia severity (p = 0.000). There was a negative, moderate, and significant correlation between OAL and spherical value (r = -0.432 for the right eye, r = -0.429 for the left eye, adjusted p = 0.01).

Conclusion: The OAL values observed in our population were higher than those reported in other studies, and a significant gender difference was noted. These findings suggest that factors other than OAL, such as ocular optics, may significantly influence the hyperopic status of our population.