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Study shows prevalence of refractive error among children with Down syndrome
Optom Vis Sci. 2009;86(6):748-754.
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Children with Down syndrome had significantly more refractive error and oblique astigmatism than control subjects in a study.
"The study is the first to explicitly investigate the association between corneal power and refractive error in children with [Down syndrome]," the authors said.
The study included 29 children with Down syndrome (mean age 12.8 years) and 59 controls (mean age 12.4 years). Investigators used a hand-held keratometer to measure corneal curvature, Mohindra retinoscopy to assess refractive error in the Down syndrome group and distance static retinoscopy to gauge error in the control group.
The Down syndrome group had a mean refractive error of +2.52 D; the control group had a mean refractive error of –0.46 D. A majority of control subjects had little or no appreciable refractive error.
Mean corneal steepness in the Down syndrome group was 45.62 D. Mean steepness among controls was 43.10 D. Astigmatic errors among the Down syndrome group were commonly oblique, with significant left-right specificity, the authors said.
"Further research is required to better understand the association between the ocular structures of the [Down syndrome] eye and their impact on functional vision," they said.