Changes of Refraction in Schoolchildren

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Abstract
• The refractions of 1,118 children, aged 7 to 15 years, were followed for one to eight years; 260 children were hyperopic and 828 were myopic throughout the observation time. Thirty additional hyperopic children became myopic during follow-up. In the cross-sectional study, the mean annual change of refraction in hyperopic children varied from −0.03 to −0.11 diopters in different age groups. In myopic children, the variation was from −0.46 to −0.93 D. In the longitudinal follow-up study (from five to eight years), the mean annual change of refraction in hyperopic children was −0.12 D compared with −0.55 D in myopic children. The mean annual change in the 30 hyperopic children who became myopic was −0.21 D while hyperopic and −0.60 D while myopic. The difference is highly significant. It clearly shows that the changes of refraction in hyperopic schoolchildren occur much more slowly than in myopic children of the same age.