Changes of refraction in schoolchildren
M. I. Mantyjarvi
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.
