| Sumario: | Background: Prolonged near work is a potential source of visual problems, which deteriorates work performance and reduces productivity. The present study aims to report the association between visual symptoms and ocular-visual abnormalities in thangka artists. Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, 342 emmetropic thangka artists were enrolled in the study from six randomly selected clusters of thangka painting schools from Kathmandu. Before eye examination, the Nepali version of the questionnaire on the symptoms of visual strain was administered to every subject to assess visual symptoms. Eye examination included visual acuity testing, refraction, cover test, fusional vergence, amplitude of accommodation, lag of accommodation, accommodative facility, convergence, Schirmer test, blink rate, colour vision, and stereopsis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between symptoms and ocular-visual abnormalities. Results: Accommodative insufficiency (p<0.001) and accommodative infacility (p=0.001) were significantly associated with middle-age adults (>30 years). Regarding visual symptoms, blurred vision (56.4%) and burning eyes (56.0%) were reported with the greatest frequency. However, tired eyes and double vision were mostly correlated with ocular-visual abnormalities. Tired eyes was especially correlated with accommodative infacility (p<0.001) and accommodative insufficiency (p=0.001), whereas double vision was correlated with fusional insufficiency at both distance (p=0.001) and near (p=0.048). Conclusion: Thangka artists have a greater prevalence of ocular-visual abnormalities, along with visual symptoms. Accommodative insufficiency, accommodative infacility, and fusional insufficiency are associated with symptoms of tired eyes and double vision in this population.
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