Near-Sightedness is also known as?

RRB Nsg. Superintendent-20 July 2019 (Shift-1)

Medical & Surgical Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: RRB Nsg. Superintendent-20 July 2019 (Shift-1)

Explanation

Near-sightedness is the common term for the medical condition known as Myopia.
In myopia, parallel rays of light from distant objects come to a focus in front of the retina, causing distant vision to be blurry.
This refractive error is typically due to an eyeball that is too long or a cornea/lens system that has too much refractive power.
The correction for myopia is a concave (diverging) lens, which helps move the focal point backward onto the retina.

Option B: Presbyopia is the loss of the eye's ability to focus on nearby objects due to the natural aging process, where the lens becomes less flexible. It is not a synonym for near-sightedness.
Option C: Hypermetropia is the medical term for far-sightedness, which is the opposite of near-sightedness. In hypermetropia, near objects are blurry while distant objects may be clear.
Option D: A cataract is a condition where the lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque, leading to a general decrease in vision. It is a structural change in the lens, not a refractive error like myopia.

Visual 1: Diagram - A comparative illustration showing the path of light in a normal (emmetropic) eye, a myopic eye (focusing in front of the retina), and a hypermetropic eye (focusing behind the retina). This visual clarifies the fundamental difference between these refractive errors.
Visual 2: Diagram - An illustration demonstrating how a concave lens corrects myopia by diverging light rays, allowing them to focus properly on the retina.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Medical terminology for refractive errors of the eye as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Understanding the correct terminology for refractive errors is fundamental for nurses involved in health screening, patient education, and accurate documentation.
A nurse performing a vision screening who notes a child holds reading material very close to their face or squints to see a distant chart should suspect myopia and refer for an ophthalmologic evaluation.
What if? If a 25-year-old patient complains of headaches and eye strain after reading for long periods but has clear distance vision, the condition is more likely uncorrected hypermetropia (which they can overcome with accommodation, causing strain) rather than myopia.

How to Approach the Question

This is a factual recall question testing knowledge of basic medical terminology.
Identify the key term in the question stem: 'Near-Sightedness'.
Access your memory for the scientific/medical term that is a direct synonym for this common condition.
Systematically evaluate each option: Myopia is near-sightedness. Hypermetropia is far-sightedness. Presbyopia is age-related far-sightedness. A cataract is a clouding of the lens.
Select the option that directly matches the definition of the term in the question.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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