AIM:A total of 1 084 preschool children in 4 kindergartens in Xining City were surveyed on their visual acuity and refraction status to find out abnormal vision and refraction beyond the normal range.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study. The overall sampling method was used on October 2019, a total of 1 084 preschool children aged 3-6 years were selected from a kindergarten in the east, west, south and north of Xining City. The children were checked for uncorrected distance vision and refractive status was checked by using a refractive screener.

RESULTS: The detection rate of abnormal vision in preschool children in Xining City was 12.21%, and the detection rate of abnormal vision increased with the increasing age(χ²_lineartrend=94.40, P<0.05), and there were differences among different age groups(χ²=293.55, P<0.05). Refractive abnormalities accounted for 6.09% of the total number of examinations. With the increasing age, the proportion of compound hyperopic astigmatism decreased(χ²_lineartrend=1.79, P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The abnormal visual acuity of preschool children in Xining City gradually increases with the increasing age; The refractive state is dominated by astigmatism, among which the proportion of mixed astigmatism and pure myopia astigmatism is the highest, followed by pure hyperopic astigmatism and compound hyperopic astigmatism; With the increase of age, the diopter of compound hyperopic astigmatism gradually decreases, which is in line with the law of children's eye refractive development.