The visual status of children ages 3 to 6 years in the vision screening program in Taiwan.

Purpose To investigate the current status of myopia, amblyopia, and strabismus of preschoolers in Taiwan. Methods The records of a vision screening performed in 2005 at 4 preschools by a tertiary referral medical center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan were reviewed. Cycloplegic refraction, visual acuity by E chart, stereopsis by Titmus and National Taiwan University tests, and ocular alignment were analyzed. Results Most (97.7%) of the children (n = 618) were able to perform visual acuity testing. There was good correlation between the results of cycloplegic spherical equivalent obtained by autorefraction and by retinoscopy ( r = 0.934, p p = 0.028, χ 2 test for trend). The prevalence of myopia was 3.0%, 4.2%, 4.7%, and 12.2% at ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 years, respectively. There was a trend of increased myopia with increased age ( p = 0.021, χ 2 test for trend). Conclusions The prevalence of myopia in children ages 3 to 6 years in Taiwan was high compared with the prevalence in other countries. Criteria for amblyopia based on age difference and on the types of visual acuity test are recommended.