title: Epidemiological study of the development of visual acuity in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 in the Shenzhen area.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the visual acuity of preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years in Shenzhen of China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Visual acuity was measured in preschoolers from eight kindergartens in Shenzhen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1147 children completed the visual acuity test.There were 77 boys and 62 girls aged 3 years, 259 and 216 aged 4, 193 and 160 aged 5 and 94 and 86 aged 6. The mean visual acuities of children aged 3, 4, 5, and 6 years were 0.51+/-0.10, 0.54+/-0.13, 0.65+/-0.14, and 0.71+/-0.17, respectively. The visual acuity was significantly improved with increasing age (P=0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For preschoolers aged 3 to 6, the visual acuity continuously develops and improves. Therefore, age should be considered when diagnosing amblyopia in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shenzhen Women and Children Hospital, Affiliated with Southern Medical University, Shenzhen 518048, China. 642660719@qq.com
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shenzhen Women and Children Hospital, Affiliated with Southern Medical University, Shenzhen 518048, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shenzhen Women and Children Hospital, Affiliated with Southern Medical University, Shenzhen 518048, China.
authors.forename: Qixia
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shenzhen Women and Children Hospital, Affiliated with Southern Medical University, Shenzhen 518048, China.
authors.forename: Weiqiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D014787:Vision Tests; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*