Evaluation of a Pilot Protocol for Detecting Infant Hyperopia.

SIGNIFICANCE: Highly hyperopic children are at greater risk for developing conditions such as strabismus, amblyopia, and early literacy and reading problems. High hyperopia is a common finding in infants in a pediatric medical practice, and early detection can be done effectively in that setting with tropicamide autorefraction.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot screening program to detect high hyperopia in 2-month-old infants in a pediatric medical practice in Columbus, Ohio.

METHODS: Cycloplegic refractive error (1% tropicamide) was measured by retinoscopy and autorefraction with the Welch Allyn SureSight in 473 infants (55.4% female) who were undergoing their 2-month well-baby visit at their pediatrician's medical practice. Cycloplegic retinoscopy (1% cyclopentolate) was repeated at a subsequent visit in 35 infants with ≥ + 5.00 D hyperopia in the most hyperopic meridian during the screening.

RESULTS: Twenty-eight infants (5.9%) had high hyperopia (spherical equivalent ≥ + 5.00 D) and 61 (12.9%) had high hyperopia (≥ + 5.00 D in at least one meridian of at least one eye) by retinoscopy with 1% tropicamide. The mean ± SD spherical equivalent tropicamide cycloplegic refractive error measured with retinoscopy was +2.54 ± 1.54 D (range = -3.25 D to +7.00 D) and with SureSight was +2.29 ± 1.64 D (range = -2.90 D to +7.53 D). Retinoscopy done using 1% cyclopentolate was 0.44 ± 0.54 D more hyperopic in spherical equivalent than with 1% tropicamide (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: High hyperopia was a common finding in 2-month-old infants in a pediatric medical setting that could be detected effectively by cycloplegic autorefraction using tropicamide. Greater cooperation between pediatric primary vision and medical care could lead to effective vision screenings designed to detect high hyperopia in infants.