ABO Blood Group Distribution and its Association with Myopia among First Year Medical Students in Bangalore - A Cross Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: It has been hypothesized that there existssome correlation between myopia and ABO blood group.Current study aimed to study the distribution of ABO bloodgroup among first year medical students and also to assess theassociation of myopia among different blood groups.Material amd method: A cross sectional study conducted byDepartment of Physiology on first year medical students ina medical college in Bangalore.Blood group of the subjectswas determined by slide method and microscopy and detailsregarding myopia and family history of myopia were collectedvia questionnaire from participants who confirmed usage ofspectacles or contact lenses for vision correction.Results: Of the total 142 subjects, 77(54.2%)were males and65 (46%) were females. Most common ABO blood group inthis population was found to be B positive (33%) followedby O positive (30%). Out of 142 participants, 46(32.39%)were Myopics, i.e 24(16.9%) females and 22 (15.49%) males.B blood group showed higher prevalence of myopia whencompared to other ABO blood groups. Odds ratio done tocompare risk of Myopia between B and Non B blood groupsrevealed that B blood group showed higher risk (Odd’s ratio1.70) of myopia but this was not statistically significant.Relative risk of myopia was higher in Rh positive group(1.09) in comparison to Rh negative blood group and it wasnot statistically significant.Conclusions: B blood group participants showed slightlyhigher prevalence of myopia as compared to other bloodgroups but it was not statistically significant.