Frequency of Anisometropic Amblyopia in Anisometropes Among the Age Group of 5-35 Years

Abstract

Amblyopia is the main cause of unilateral blindness in all over the world. Causes of amblyopia are strabismus, anisometropia and stimulus deprivation. Anisometropia is second most important cause of amblyopia. This study was designed to find the frequency of anisometropic amblyopia in anisometropes among the age group of 5-35 years. Objective: To find the frequency of amblyopia in anisometropic patients of age 5 to 35. Study design: Cross-sectional hospital based study. Setting: Eye outdoor patient department of Islam teaching hospital Sialkot. Duration of study: 6 months from 01/01/2016 to 30/06/2016. Sample size: The selected sample size is 100 patients. Sampling technique: Consecutive sampling. Data collection procedure: Visual acuity of all the patients was measured by using snellen chart and aided with Pinhole to check any improvement in visual acuity. Cycloplegic objective refraction was performed with the help of streak retinoscope in children and then was subjectively verified. Direct ophthalmoscope was used for the visualization of Bruckner reflex and fundus examination. With best corrected visual acuity if the difference between sound and lazy eyes of more than two lines of vision chart then included in amblyopia. Results: The results of our study showed that frequency of amblyopia is 8% in anisometropes. Gender distribution showed that females are more amblyopic than males (8.8% females, 7% males). Age distribution showed that 2.5% amblyopia is found in 5-15 age group, 11.6% in 15-25 and 11.8% in 25-35 age groups. Conclusion: Percentage of amblyopia was more in hyperopic astigmatic patients. The increase of anisometropic amblyopia in the older children indicates a development of amblyopia after the age of developing years in an untreated population.

Keywords: Binocular single vision (BSV), Visual acuity (V.A), Laser-assisted sub epithelial keratectomy (LASEK), Spherical equivalent refraction (SER)