Meeting the need for corrective spectacles in visually impaired Chinese school children: the potential of ready-made spectacles

摘要

Purpose To assess the potential of ready-made (spherical) spectacles (RMS) in meeting the need for refractive correction in visually impaired children in China. Methods Eligible children aged 5-17 years were identified from the three study sites in China. Distance visual acuity was measured with a retroilluminated logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution chart with tumbling E optotypes. Cycloplegic autorefraction was performed on all children using a handheld autorefractor. If uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was = 3 lines of visual acuity with refractive correction. Prevalence was 12.7% (95% CI 11.5% to 13.9%) for UCVA = 3 lines, and 9.38% (95% CI 8.39% to 19.4%) for UCVA = 3 lines. Depending on the severity of visual impairment, 62.8%-64.0% of children could be accommodated with RMS if not correcting for astigmatism of <= 0.75 dioptres and anisometropia of <= 0.50 spherical equivalent dioptres. Approximately 87% of children could be accommodated with RMS if astigmatism and anisometropia limits were increased to <= 1.25 and <= 1.50 dioptres, respectively. Conclusions RMS could substantially alleviate visual morbidity in two-thirds or more of visually impaired schoolchildren in China. This cost-effective approach to refractive correction might also be useful in low/middle-income countries with poor access to optometric services.