Comparison of the effect of cycloplegia on astigmatism measurements in a pediatric amblyopic population: A prospective study

Purpose: To study the effect of cycloplegia on astigmatism measurements in pediatric patients with amblyopia. Methods: This was a prospective comparative clinical study. Participants 4 to 17 years old were recruited from the patient population at the Arkansas Children's Hospital eye clinic after informed consent was obtained. Autorefractor measurements were used to obtain values of refractive error in amblyopic and non-amblyopic patients before and after cycloplegia. The groups were subdivided into myopia and hyperopia and with and without underlying amblyopia. The refractive error was expressed as sphere, cylinder, axis of astigmatism, and spherical equivalent. The treatment effect was summarized as the mean difference (95% confidence interval) for each outcome. Results: No statistically significant difference was found on the axis and power of astigmatism before and after cycloplegia in the patients with amblyopia (P = .28 and .99, respectively). Conclusions: Non-cycloplegic autorefraction measurements may be considered safe for refining astigmatism power and axis in pediatric patients with amblyopia.