Amblyopia

There were very few ocular opacities or posterior pole abnormalities. The visual status in the Mexican 12- to 13-year-old children tested was good. The prevalence of amblyopia was similar to that in other unscreened populations. Visual acuity, amblyopia, and ocular pathology in 12-to 13-year-old children in Northern . The purpose of this study is to elucidate the prevalence of strabismus and amblyopia in a large population of Japanese elementary school children, from Grade 1 to Grade 6, ages ranging from 6 to 12 years.

Amblyopia is caused when the brain prefers (favors) one eye to the other. The brain’s preference (liking) for one eye over the other can weaken and reduce vision in the eye that is less used. A total of 1,035 12- to 13-year-old children were examined in a field study. The examination included VA, stereopsis, cover testing, refractive retinoscopy, and examination of the red reflex and posterior pole. In cases with unexplained subnormal VA, visually evoked potential/visually evoked response was also performed.

While there are no current guidelines to prevent amblyopia, vision screening can help to detect the condition at an early age. There were very few ocular opacities or posterior pole abnormalities. The exotropia/esotropia ratio were increased in comparison with past studies in Japan. The school eye doctors need to be more diligent in identifying and diagnosing various types of strabismus and amblyopia in order to contribute to the school vision screening program already in place in Japan Children under aged 3-5 (or younger) should be examined for eye problems.