The Effect of Early Glasses on the Development of Amblyopia

Children assigned to the intervention group (group 1) will receive orthoptic care, including exams 1-3 (depending on the refractive error) times a year, and glasses, based on accurate determinations of refractive error by retinoscopy in cycloplegia by the study orthoptists at age 12-18 months. The spectacles for the children in this study will be provided by the study via their optician without costs.

Children with high refractive error in the control group (group 2) will also receive orthoptic care, including exams 1-3 (depending on the refractive error) times a year, but they will not receive glasses.

Children who have no or mild refractive error (group 3), the majority of all children, will be examined by the study orthoptists only once at the age of 12-18 months, after which youth health care (YHC) physicians and nurses will continue standard vision screening at CHCs, as part of screening for general health disorders and vaccinations. Visual acuity is measured routinely at 42-48 months as part of standard vision screening.