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Anisometropia prevalence in a highly astigmatic school-aged population
Velma Dobson1, Erin M Harvey, Joseph M Miller
1Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA. vdobson@eyes.arizona.edu
Purpose:
To describe prevalence of anisometropia, defined in terms of both sphere and cylinder, examined cross-sectionally, in school-aged members of a Native American tribe with a high prevalence of astigmatism.
Methods:
Cycloplegic autorefraction measurements, confirmed by retinoscopy and, when possible, by subjective refraction were obtained from 1041 Tohono O'odham children, 4 to 13 years of age.
Results:
Astigmatism > or =1.00 diopter (D) was present in one or both eyes of 462 children (44.4%). Anisometropia > or =1.00 D spherical equivalent (SE) was found in 70 children (6.7%), and anisometropia > or =1.00 D cylinder was found in 156 children (15.0%). Prevalence of anisometropia did not vary significantly with age or gender. Overall prevalence of significant anisometropia was 18.1% for a difference between eyes > or =1.00 D SE or cylinder. Vector analysis of between-eye differences showed a prevalence of significant anisometropia of 25.3% for one type of vector notation (difference between eyes > or =1.00 D for M and/or > or =0.50 D for J0 or J45), and 16.2% for a second type of vector notation (between-eye vector dioptric difference > or =1.41).
Conclusions:
Prevalence of SE anisometropia is similar to that reported for other school-aged populations. However, prevalence of astigmatic anisometropia is higher than that reported for other school-aged populations.
