Longitudinal change of refractive error in infants during the first year of life

Abstract

Using cycloplegia, the change in ametropia of 113 infants was followed at 3 month intervals over the first year of life. Scatterplots of the spherical equivalent power show that the dioptric differences exhibit a significant myopic shift of -0.38 ds between 26 and 36 weeks and -0.38 ds between 36 and 52 weeks. The spread of the dioptric differences (95% CI) does not appear to be related to the magnitude of the ametropia present and decreases with time. By 12 months of age the frequency distribution of the spherical equivalent appears to become leptokurtic as it is in the adult. On average the astigmatism was of low degree (less than 1 dioptre cylinder) and with the rule. Anisometropia was rarely seen. The results of this longitudinal study point to an optimal time for screening and perhaps prescribing for 'abnormal' refractive error between 9 and 12 months of age.

Refractive error in premature infants

“…This tendency toward hyperopia in the first months of life has also been described in full-term infants. 9 Myopia was higher and more prevalent in younger infants. This could be related to insufficient relaxation of accommodation.…”

Achados oculares em crianças de zero a seis anos de idade, residentes na cidade de São Caetano do Sul, SP

“…Estes achados estão em concordância com a literatura que relata, nos primeiros anos de vida, a baixa hipermetropia como o principal erro refrativo encontrado (4,(18)(19) . Em relação ao equivalente esférico, a média do equivalente esférico da amostra A foi de 1,18 e da amostra B foi de 1,46; portanto os dados são bastante parecidos com os da literatura, onde a distribuição da população em relação ao equivalente esférico é bastante semelhante à verificada em nosso estudo (20)(21) . Quando as duas amostras foram comparadas, notamos que algumas ametropias apresentaram diferenças significantes, como a hipermetropia ≤ 2D, mas quando as comparamos, segundo a idade, observamos que a prevalência desta ametropia era decrescente conforme o aumento da idade, todavia os achados de ambas as amostras quando comparadas entre si não eram significantes.…”

Reduction of astigmatism after infancy in children who did and did not wear glasses and have strabismus

“…[1][2][3][4] However, it is not clear how this happens, 5 and there are reports that it increased after the diagnosis of squint 6 and did not decrease in 1-year-old children who later had amblyopia and probably strabismus. 7 If there is a difference between the changes in normal and strabismic infants, this should be taken into account in any explanation of how astigmatism changes.…”