Anisometropia in School Going Children

Background: To determine the frequency ofanisometropia of ≥1.0D in children aged 05 to 15years.Methods: In this cross sectional study, childrenaged between 5 and 15 years presenting withimpaired vision were examined to diagnose thecause. Complete ocular examination was performedincluding retinoscopy for prescription of glasses.Cycloplegic refraction and post mydriatic test wasdone where indicated. Children, having refractiveerror as the sole cause of impaired vision, wereincluded in the study and those havinganisometropia of ≥1.0D were noted for resultcalculation.Results: The mean age of patients (n=100) was 9.56+ 6.0 years ranging from 5 to 15 years. There were 40male and 60 female children. Considering the type ofrefractive error, 26% were myopes and 74% werehypermetropes. Anisometropia of ≥1.0D was seen in9 out of 100 children with refractive error as the solecause of impaired vision . There were 2 myopes inthese 9 patients of anisometropia (20%) whileremaining 7 were hypermetropes (78%).Conclusion: Hypermetropia is commoner thanmyopia (3:1) in the pediatric age group and femaleswere showing a higher incidence of refractive errorsthan males (3:2). Anisometropia ≥1.0D(spherical/cylindrical) was more common amonghypermetropes than myopes (78% vs22%).Anisometropia exists in a significant number ofschool going children aged 05 to 15 years and needsto be dectected early and addressed timely to avoidthe development of amblyopia and squint