Refraction and accommodation in diabetic school children

Refraction and accommodation of 61 diabetic children (aged 9 to 16 years) and 92 non-diabetic children (aged 10 to 16 years) were studied. Myopia was found in 36.1% of the diabetic children and in 29.3% of the non-diabetic children. The difference was not statistically significant. In the diabetic children, the age of the onset of myopia and the progression of myopia were the same as in the usual myopia at school age. The refraction curve of the diabetic children was less peaked than that of the non-diabetic children; a greater number of low myopic refractions were observed, and the low hyperopic refractions were more evenly distributed in the curve of the diabetic children. The mean accommodation of the diabetic children was 9.9 D +/- 2.2, and in the non-diabetic children it was 11.8 D +/- 2.6. The difference was statistically significant. The accommodation of both the diabetic and non-diabetic girls was lower than that of the boys. The accommodation in the myopic diabetic children was statistically significantly lower than the accommodation in the hyperopic diabetic children.