title: Refractive error among urban preschool children in Xuzhou, China.
abstract: The prevalence of refractive errors in urban preschool children in Xuzhou, China remains unknown. Children attending twelve randomly selected kindergartens participated in this study. Visual acuity, ocular alignment, cover-uncover test, cycloplegic refraction, slit-lamp and funduscopy were performed under a standardized testing environment. Cycloplegic streak retinoscopy was performed for all subjects. The mean spherical equivalent (SE) refractive error was the main outcome measure. Emmetropia was defined as refractive status between +1.75 diopters (D) and -0.75D. Myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and anisometropia were defined as SE < -0.50D, SE > +2.0 D, cylindrical error > 1.0 D and SE difference ≥ 1 D between fellow eyes, respectively. Out of 2349 eligible children, 2255 (96%) children completed a refractive examination. Of the 2255 children, the mean SE of right eyes was +1.14 ± 0.95 diopters (D). Mean SE of the right eyes did not decline with age (r = -0.01; P = 0.56). The majority (86.6%) of children were emmetropia. The prevalence of myopia and hyperopia was 0.9% and 14.3%, respectively. The mean astigmatism for the right eyes was 0.87 ± 0.62 D. The prevalence of With-the-rule, against the rule and oblique astigmatism was 93.8%, 4.7% and 1.5%, respectively. The mean anisometropia between two eyes was 0.14 ± 0.38 D. The most common type of refractive error was hyperopia (14.3%), followed by astigmatism (8.8%), anisometropia (3.2%), and myopia (0.9%). The refractive status in this population of urban Xuzhou preschool children was stable and there was no evidence of a myopic refractive shift over this age range in our cross-sectional study.
authors: Xuzhou Eye Institute Xuzhou 221000, China ; The First Peoples' Hospital of Xuzhou 221000 China.
authors: Xiaojuan
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Xuzhou Eye Institute Xuzhou 221000, China ; The First Peoples' Hospital of Xuzhou 221000 China.
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Liu
authors: Xuzhou Eye Institute Xuzhou 221000, China ; The First Peoples' Hospital of Xuzhou 221000 China.
authors: Ruifang
authors: R
authors: Feng
authors: Xuzhou Medical College Xuzhou 221000, China.
authors: Huashuo
authors: H
authors: Zhao
authors: The Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University Wenzhou 325027, China.
authors: Qinmei
authors: Q
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: China; Preschool children; myopia; prevalence; refractive error