[A research of infant refraction in Kunming Municipality].

OBJECTIVE: To study the infant refraction, detect ametropia in mass screening refraction and correct the ametropia properly for the treatment and prevention of amblyopia and strabismus as early as possible. METHODS: The refraction status of 1 146 children (2 291 eyes, aged 1 month -3 years) were determined with retinoscopy after tropicamide cycloplegia. RESULTS: The results of statistics showed that 89 eyes (3.88%) had emmetropia, 2 139 eyes (93.37%) hypermetropia, 38 eyes (1.66%) myopia, 560 eyes (24.44%) astigmatism and 25 eyes (1.09%) mixed astigmatism. In cases with ametropia, most of them were mild, and 97 eyes (4.23%) were moderate and severe. Anisometropia occurred in 34 infants (2.97%), and 7 infants (11 eyes, 0.48%) had strabismus. The degree of hypermetropia decreased with the increase of age. The percentage of astigmatism decreased with the age increase (chi(2) = 7.46, P<0.01), and the degree of astigmatism also decreased with the age increase (chi(2) = 26.1l, P < 0.01). Myopia increased with the age increase (chi(2) = 4.06, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevention of amblyopia and strabismus in children should begin at the infant period, and the cases with moderate and severe ametropia should wear eye glasses as early as possible.