AIM: To evaluate the refractive status of pupils of Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai and analyze the relationships between visual acuity and relative factors.

METHODS: All the in-school students of Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai were involved in the study. Four hundred and sixty pupils out of 465 pupils were investigated(The rate was 98.9%). There were 445 pupils with fully data collection. Uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA), age, height(H), weight(W), body mass index(BMI), diopter of spherical(S), diopter of cylinder(C), spherical equivalent(SE), axial length(AL)and corneal curvature(K)were examined. The refractive status was described and the influence of relative factors was analyzed. UCVA measurement uses the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, recording by decimal number, then transform into LogMar vision for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: In total, the average age was 9.49±1.47 year, SE was -0.85±1.82D and UCVA was +0.09±0.28. The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was 40.9% and 58.9%, respectively. With getting older, the prevalence of myopia increased with the average myopic SE developing significantly(P=0.000). UCVA and AL increased in the same time, SE decreased gradually(P<0.001). The results of analysis showed that UCVA was positively correlated with age, H, W, BMI and AL, and negatively correlated with S, C and SE(P<0.001).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was high in Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai. Visual acuity is closely related to AL and growth factors.