Refractive error tudy in children: reult from hunyi Ditrict, China

PURPOE: To ae the prevalence of refractive error and viion impairment in chool-age children in hunyi Ditrict, northeat of Beijing, the People Republic of China. METHOD: Random election of village-baed cluter wa ued to identify a ample of children 5 to 15 year of age. Reident regitration book were ued to enumerate eligible children in the elected village and identify their current chool. Ophthalmic examination were conducted in 132 chool on children from 29 cluter during May 1988 to July 1998, including viual acuity meaurement, cycloplegic retinocopy, cycloplegic autorefraction, ocular motility evaluation, and examination of the external eye, anterior egment, media, and fundu. Independent replicate meaurement of all children with reduced viion and a ample of thoe with normal viion were done for quality aurance monitoring in three chool. Abtract REULT: A total of 6,134 children from 4,338 houehold were enumerated, and 5,884 children (95.9%) were examined. The prevalence of uncorrected, preenting, and bet viual acuity 0.5 (20/40) or wore in at leat one eye wa 12.8%, 10.9%, and 1.8%, repectively; 0.4% had bet viual acuity 0.5 or wore in both eye. Refractive error wa the caue in 89.5% of the 1,236 eye with reduced viion, amblyopia in 5%, other caue in 1.5%, with unexplained caue in the remaining 4%. Myopia −0.5 diopter or le in either eye wa eentially abent in 5-year-old children, but increaed to 36.7% in male and 55.0% in female by age 15. Over thi ame age range, hyperopia 2 diopter or greater decreaed from 8.8% in male and 19.6% in female to le than 2% in both. Female had a ignificantly higher rik of both myopia and hyperopia. CONCLUION: Reduced viion becaue of myopia i an important public health problem in chool-age children in hunyi Ditrict. More than 9% of children could benefit from precription glae. Further tudie are needed to determine whether the upward trend in the prevalence of myopia continue far beyond age 15 and whether the development of myopia i changing for more recent birth cohort.