Visual acuity, residual amblyopia and ocular pathology in a screened population of 12–13‐year‐old children in Sweden

PURPOSE: To establish the distribution of visual acuity and the prevalence of residual amblyopia and other ocular disorders in a vision-screened population group of 12-13-year-old children. METHODS: In total 1046 children were examined in a field study in Sweden. The examination included visual acuity, stereopsis, cover testing, red reflex, refractive retinoscopy and examination of the posterior pole. In selected cases VEP was also performed. RESULTS: Visual acuity > or =1.0 in at least one eye was present in 98% of cases. Residual amblyopia (< or =0.5) was found in 1.1% of the population. Manifest strabismus was found in 2.7%. There were only a small number of ocular opacities and posterior pole abnormalities. Ocular albinism was found in 7 cases. In 15 children the cause of subnormal VA was unexplained. CONCLUSION: Results for visual acuity, residual amblyopia and other ocular disorders are very similar to previous Nordic, vision-screened populations.