[Refraction in childhood as a risk factor for the development of amblyopia and/or strabismus. Recording a round table discussion at the 89th Congress of the German Society of Ophthalmology 25 September 1991 in Leipzig].

The members of the panel refer to the recent literature. As has been shown by several groups of authors (Atkinson et al., Abrahamsson et al., Ingram et al.) hypermetropia of 3 diopters or more as well as astigmatism of 1 or more dpt at the age of 12 months, especially oblique astigmatism, increase the rate of amblyopia/strabism until the age of 4 years. The risk rises too, if the refractive error deteriorates. The authors conclude that the prescription of glasses in non-squinters should be based on these new findings.