The Contribution of Autorefractometry to the Diagnosis and Management of Refractive Errors in Patients Aged 6 To 18 Years Northern Benin in 2024

Abstract

The aim is to evaluate the contribution of autorefractometry to the diagnosis and management of ametropia in subjects aged 6 to 18 years in Northern Benin in 2024.

Methods : This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study with prospective data collection over a period from May 20 to September 30, 2024, at the Regional Hospital based University Hospital Center in northern Benin. This study was conducted with the approval of the Local Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research at the University of Parakou (CLERB/UP) under number 1044/2025/CLERB-UP/P/SPµ/R/SA

Results: Our results included 208 eyes from 104 individuals. The median age was 17 years, and there was a predominance of females with a sex ratio of 0.4. Before cycloplegia, hyperopia and astigmatism were the most common refractive errors, each accounting for 50.5%, followed by myopia (32.2%). After cycloplegia, hyperopic eyes accounted for 75.5% of cases. Astigmatic and myopic eyes accounted for 73.5% and 17.3%, respectively. The mean spherical equivalent at correction was 0.23 ± 1 D, compared to 0.61 ± 1 D on autorefraction under cycloplegia. This represents a highly significant decrease of 0.38 D (p-value = 0.

Conclusion: Cycloplegic autorefraction is essential for the accurate diagnosis of refractive errors in children and adolescents, particularly for detecting latent hyperopia to prevent the development of amblyopia.