[Population-based survey of refractive error in school-aged children in Liwan District, Guangzhou].

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of refractive error in school-aged children in urban setting of Southern China. METHODS: In this population-based cross-sectional study, children aged 5 to 15 years old were randomly selected by clustering sampling and door-to-door survey, and were examined in 71 schools and 19 community stations from October 2002 to January 2003. The examination included visual acuity measurement, ocular motility evaluation, retinoscopy, autorefraction under cycloplegia and examination of the external eye, anterior segment, media, and fundus. RESULTS: Of 5053 children living in 4814 households enumerated, 4364 (86.4%) were examined. The prevalence of myopia (spherical e..