Anisometropia in School Going Children

Abstract

Background: To determine the frequency of
anisometropia of ≥1.0D in children aged 05 to 15
years.
Methods: In this cross sectional study, children
aged between 5 and 15 years presenting with
impaired vision were examined to diagnose the
cause. Complete ocular examination was performed
including retinoscopy for prescription of glasses.
Cycloplegic refraction and post mydriatic test was
done where indicated. Children, having refractive
error as the sole cause of impaired vision, were
included in the study and those having
anisometropia of ≥1.0D were noted for result
calculation.
Results: The mean age of patients (n=100) was 9.56
+ 6.0 years ranging from 5 to 15 years. There were 40
male and 60 female children. Considering the type of
refractive error, 26% were myopes and 74% were
hypermetropes. Anisometropia of ≥1.0D was seen in
9 out of 100 children with refractive error as the sole
cause of impaired vision . There were 2 myopes in
these 9 patients of anisometropia (20%) while
remaining 7 were hypermetropes (78%).
Conclusion: Hypermetropia is commoner than
myopia (3:1) in the pediatric age group and females
were showing a higher incidence of refractive errors
than males (3:2). Anisometropia ≥1.0D
(spherical/cylindrical) was more common among
hypermetropes than myopes (78% vs
22%).Anisometropia exists in a significant number of
school going children aged 05 to 15 years and needs
to be dectected early and addressed timely to avoid
the development of amblyopia and squint.