Prevalence of Amblyopia in School-Aged Children and Variations by Age, Gender, and Ethnicity in a Multi-Country Refractive Error Study.
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ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:To estimate the age-, gender-, and ethnicity-specific prevalence of amblyopia in children aged 5 to 15 years using data from the multi-country Refractive Error Study in Children (RESC). DESIGN:Population-based, cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS:Among 46 260 children aged 5 to 15 years who were enumerated from 8 sites in the RESC study, 39 551 had a detailed ocular examination and a reliable visual acuity (VA) measurement in 1 or both eyes. Information on ethnicity was available for 39 321 of these participants. This study focused on findings from the 39 321 children. METHODS:The examination included VA measurements, evaluation of ocular alignment and refractive error under cycloplegia, and examination of the external eye, anterior segment, media, and fundus. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The proportion of children aged 5 to 15 years with amblyopia in different ethnic cohorts. Amblyopia was defined as best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of ?20/40 in either eye, with tropia, anisometropia (?2 spherical equivalent diopters [D]), or hyperopia (?+6 spherical equivalent D), after excluding children with fundus or anterior segment abnormalities. RESULTS:The overall prevalence of amblyopia was 0.74% (95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.83) with significant (P < 0.001) variation across ethnic groups: 1.43% in Hispanic, 0.93% in Chinese, 0.62% in Indian, 0.52% in Malay, 0.35% in Nepali, and 0.28% in African children. Amblyopia was not associated with age or gender. The most common cause of amblyopia was anisometropia. CONCLUSIONS:In this study, the prevalence of amblyopia varied with ethnicity and was highest in Hispanic children and lowest in African children. Most cases were unilateral and developed before the age of 5 years. The impact of changes of definitions on prevalence estimates is discussed.
SUBMITTER: Xiao O
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6029943 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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