Accommodation in Hyperopic and Myopic School Children

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Abstract
Binocular accommodation of 150 consecutive hyperopic and 150 myopic school children was measured during the eye examination. There were 99 girls and 51 boys in the hyperopic group and 100 girls and 50 boys in the myopic group. The ages varied from seven to 16 years. Accommodation of the hyperopic children varied from 4 to 20 D (mean 10.6 ± 3.4), and in the myopic children also from 4 to 20 D (mean 10.9 ± 2.5). The difference between these means was not statistically significant. However, hyperopic girls aged 12 to 16 years showed low values of accommodation (mean 9.0 ± 2.7) compared to the other corresponding age groups. In the second part of the study the refraction of 80 children, aged seven to 15 years, with decreased accommodation was studied retrospectively to see if they had a tendency to become myopic. The follow-up time was from one to eight years, and the accommodation at the beginning of the observation time varied from 2 to 7 D. The mean annual change of the refraction of these children was from - 0.03 to - 0.17 D. In 34 children there was no change at all, and in 12 children the change of refraction was slightly toward more hyperopia. Only three of these 80 children became myopic during the observation time. This incidence is lower than the incidence of myopia at these ages. Thus, accommodative power of hyperopic and myopic school children appears to be on the same level, and low accommodation does not predict the development of myopic refraction in the school years.

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