Evaluation of the Prevalence of Refractive Defects and Ocular Function in a Group of 1518 Children Aged 8 Years in Northwestern Poland-A Retrospective Study.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of refractive errors in a group of 8-year-old school children in northwestern Poland.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In 2017-2019, refractive errors were examined in a group of 1518 Caucasian children aged 8 years old with cycloplegia. Refraction was obtained with a hand-held autorefractor (Retinomax 3). The refractive error reading was expressed as the spherical equivalent (SE) as myopia (≤-0.5 D), emmetropia (>-0.5 D to ≤+0.5 D), mild hyperopia (>+0.5 D to ≤+2.0 D) and hyperopia (>+2.0 D), and astigmatism (≤-0.75 DC) and anisometropia (≥1.00 D). Data analysis was performed using Statistica 13.5 software and included Pearson's chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests. p -values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Mild hyperopia was most common (37.6%), myopia was observed in 16.8% and astigmatism in 10.6% of participants. Pseudomyopia concerned up to 51.91% children. Girls were significantly more likely to have mild hyperopia ( p = 0.0144) and were significantly more likely to wear glasses ( p = 0.00093).

CONCLUSIONS: Screening children for refractive errors after cycloplegia is key for detecting accommodative spasm and refractive errors. The largest group of children presented with mild hyperopia, which is a physiological feature of refraction in 8-year-old children, but myopia and astigmatism were the most common refractive errors.