A Comparison of Three Different Photoscreeners in Children.

Purpose: To compare the results obtained from three non-cycloplegic handheld photorefractometers with cycloplegic autorefractometry (Topcon KR-8100; Topcon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) measurement in children. Methods: The refractive status of 238 eyes in 119 healthy children was assessed. The values acquired using photorefraction with the non-cycloplegic PlusoptiX A12 (Plusoptix GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany), Retinomax K-plus 3 (Righton, Tokyo, Japan), and Spot Vision Screener (Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY) devices were compared with those obtained from the cycloplegic Topcon KR-8100. The agreement between the measurements was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: The mean age was 10.1 +/- 3.2 years (range: 6 to 17 years). The mean spherical value for the right eyes was 0.38 diopters (D) (range: -4.50 to 6.25 D) for the Plusoptix A12; 0.45 D (range: -4.50 to 6.25 D) for the Spot Vision Screener; -1.15 D (range: -8.75 to 6.50 D) for the Retinomax K-plus 3; and 0.62 (range: -4.50 to 6.00) for the Topcon KR-8100. The mean spherical equivalent value for the right eyes was 0.41 D (range: -4.50 to 7.90 D) for the Plusoptix A12; 0.18 D (range: -4.75 to 6.13 D) for the Spot Vision Screener; -1.30 D (range: -10.50 to 6.38 D) for the Retinomax K-plus 3; and 0.67 D (range: -4.00 to 6.00 D) for the Topcon KR-8100 (for the right eyes). Conclusions: The photorefractometer method was beneficial in the measurement of refractive errors of school-aged children. The PlusoptiX A12 photorefractometer method may eliminate the need for cycloplegia in the detection of refractive errors in children.