This Simple Test May Predict if Your Kid Will Need Glasses
This Simple Test May Predict if Your Kid Will Need Glasses – Measuring how far-sighted kids are at age 6 can help predict which of them would become myopic or near-sighted at age 13.
Researchers studies nearly 4,500 children who got regular eye exams starting in first grade and going until the end of eighth grade, when they turned 13. Only children with normal vision at the start were included. Of all the children, 414 kids became myopic beween grades 2 through 8. When researchers look back at their annual eye exams, they found that those who were less farsighted — the cutoff was +0.75 diopters — were more likely to become nearsighted when they were older. Myopia was defined as -0.75 diopters or worse.
Researchers “Future myopia can be predicted in a nonmyopic child using a simple, single measure of refractive error.” They recommend children getting comprehensive eye exams from an early age so doctors can take measures to prevent their eyesight from worsening.
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Ophthalmology.
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