Characteristics of peripheral refractive errors of myopic and non-myopic Chinese eyes

Interest in peripheral refractive errors has increased as it was hypothesized that peripheral hypermetropia might provide a stimulus for axial elongation (Smith et al., 2005), this study was to determine relative peripheral refractive errors (RPRE) of the eyes of a group of Chinese children and adults. Central and peripheral (20 degrees , 30 degrees , 40 degrees at nasal, temporal, superior and inferior meridians of retina) refractive errors were obtained from cyclopleged eyes of 40 children and 42 adults with a Shin-Nippon auto-refractor. Only right eyes were considered. Central spherical equivalent (M) was used to classify the eyes as Moderate Myopia (MM, -3.00 < M < or = -6.00D), Low Myopia (LM, -0.50 < or = M < or = -3.00D), Emmetropia (E, -0.50