AIM:To acquire the normal visual acuity values and the rate of amblyopia for each age through visual survey of the children accepting treatment at Xinzhou hospital.

METHODS: Children were asked to read the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart at the distance of 5m. Then, children under 3 years old whose visual degree were less than 0.5, the children of 4-5 years old whose visual degree were less than 0.6, the children of 6-7 years old whose visual degree were less than 0.7, or the visual gap was greater than 2 lines were asked to make a return visit at hospital outpatient.

RESULTS: The detection rate of vision disorders in 3 211 children was 7.51%. The refractive state of vision disorder was hyperopia; mild amblyopia accounted the largest percentage in the refractive amblyopia, followed by moderate amblyopia. The prevalence of amblyopia was 3.68% in 6-year-old group, 3.76% in 5-year-old group, 7.93 in 4-year-old group, 16.48% in 3-year-old group. As the growth of the age, the vision in each group also increased. The vision distribution in each group: 0.5518±0.1910 in 3-year-old group, 0.6444±0.1584 in 4-year-old group, 0.6662±0.1544 in 5-year-old group and 0.7601±0.1119 in 6-year-old group. The rate of vision disorders had statistical difference among the 3-year-old group(P<0.05), and no significant difference for the 4-6 years old group(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The development of children's vision is a dynamic process. Therefore, age factor should be taken into account in amblyopia diagnosis.