Abstract:
Deficient amplitude of accommodation is the most frequently used criteria
in an optometric practice in diagnosing whether a patient has accommodative insufficiency.
This deficiency is determined based on an age-related expected finding calculated
using Hofstetter’s equation derived from Donder’s and Duane’s data. The aim of
the present study was to investigate the amplitude of accommodation among Ghanaian
school children and to compare the findings with age-expected norms predicted by
Hofstetter’s equation.
Methods: The amplitude of accommodation was measured using the push-up method
in a random sample of 435 school children from the Cape Coast Municipality. The
mean amplitude of accommodation was compared with the age-expected amplitude
of accommodation as predicted by Hofstetter’s equation for average amplitude of
accommodation.
Results: The mean amplitude of accommodation was 16.86 3.07 D (95% CI = 16.57,
17.15). This is significantly higher than age-expected norms calculated using Hofstetter’s
equation. The amplitude of accommodation showed the characteristic decline with age.
Conclusion: From the results, we conclude that the age-expected norms for amplitude
of accommodation using Hofstetter’s equation might not be accurate for Ghanaian
children.
