Influence of severity and types of astigmatism on visual acuity in school-aged children in southern China.

AIM: To investigate the influence of astigmatism on visual acuity in school-aged children, and to define a cutoff for clinically significant astigmatism.

METHODS: This is a population-based, cross-sectional study. Among 5053 enumerated children aged 5-15y in Guangzhou, 3729 (73.8%) children aged 7-15 with successful cycloplegic auto-refraction (1% cyclopentolate) and a reliable visual acuity measurement were included. Ocular measurement included external eye, anterior segment, media and fundus and cycloplegic auto-refraction. Primary outcome measures included the relationship between severity and subtypes of astigmatism and the prevalence of visual impairment. Three criteria for visual impairment were adopted: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≤0.7, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) ≤0.5 or <0.7 in the right eye.

RESULTS: Increases of cylinder power was significantly associated with worse visual acuity (UCVA: β=0.051, P <0.01; BCVA: β=0.025, P <0.001). A substantial increase in UCVI and BCVI was seen with astigmatism of 1.00 diopter (D) or more. Astigmatism ≥1.00 D had a greater BCVI prevalence than cylinder power less than 1.00 D (OR=4.20, 95%CI: 3.08-5.74), and this was also true for hyperopic, emmetropic and myopic refraction categories. Oblique astigmatism was associated with a higher risk of BCVI relative to with the rule astigmatism in myopic refractive category (OR=12.87, 95%CI: 2.20-75.38).

CONCLUSION: Both magnitude and subtypes of astigmatism influence the prevalence of visual impairment in school children. Cylinder ≥1.00 D may be useful as a cutoff for clinically significant astigmatism.