Changes of refraction in schoolchildren.
The refractions of 1,118 children, aged 7 to 15 years, were followed for one to eight years; 260 children were hyperopic and 828 were myopic throughout the observation time. Thirty additional hyperopic children became myopic during follow-up. In the cross-sectional study, the mean annual change of refraction in hyperopic children varied from -0.03 to -0.11 diopters in different age groups. In myopic children, the variation was from -0.46 to -0.93 D. In the longitudinal follow-up study (from five to eight years), the mean annual change of refraction in hyperopic children was -0.12 D compared with -0.55 D in myopic children. The mean annual change in the 30 hyperopic children who became myopic was -0.21 D while hyperopic and -0.60 D while myopic. The difference is highly significant. It clearly shows that the changes of refraction in hyperopic schoolchildren occur much more slowly than in myopic children of the same age.
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005123:Eye / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000473:pathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000473:pathology; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012189:Retrospective Studies