Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32160245›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Reference curves for refraction in a German cohort of healthy children and adolescents.

Carolin Truckenbrod, Christof Meigen, Manuela Brandt, Mandy Vogel, Siegfried Wahl, Anne Jurkutat, Wieland Kiess

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Gender and Refractive Error Stratified Ocular Biometry Percentile Curves in Indian School Children.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026
    Article
  3. Corrected Percentile Curves to Track Myopisation-The Anyang Childhood Eye Study.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Axial length normative data and percentile curves for schoolchildren in Taiwan: A tool for myopia monitoring.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2025
    Article
  7. Review
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  17. IMI 2021 Yearly Digest.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2021
    Review
  18. Observational
  19. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Carolin TruckenbrodLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4187-1860
Christof MeigenLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Manuela BrandtLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Mandy VogelLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Siegfried WahlInstitute for Ophthalmic Research, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
Anne JurkutatLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Wieland KiessLIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePercentile curves of refractive development for German children were generated. We hypothesize that refraction in children in central Europe might differ from data in central Asia.

methodsNon-cycloplegic refraction was measured using the ZEISS i.Profiler plus (Carl Zeiss Vision GmbH, Germany) in 1999 children, of which were 1046 male and 953 female, aged 3 to 18 years. Reference curves were calculated with the R-package GAMLSS as continuous function of age.

resultsThere were only little differences for all centiles between the genders at 3 years and a general trend towards more myopia with increasing age. For the 97th centile and the 3rd centile, girls showed higher myopia/ less hyperopia than boys. Between the age of 3 and 18, the median refraction became -0.68 D and -0.74 D more myopic for boys and girls, respectively. At the same time, the 97th centile for boys changed +0.29 D towards hyperopia and in girls -0.52 D towards myopia. A general myopic trend was seen in the 3rd centile, which was -2.46 D for boys and -2.98 D for girls. For both genders, the median became less than zero at the age of 10 years but did not become myopic (less than -0.5 D) up to the age of 18.

conclusionOur analysis presents the first reference curve for refraction in central Europe. In comparison to data from China and Korea, there is only little difference at the age of 5 years in all centiles which then increases continuously. For all ethnicities, a trend towards myopia with increasing age could be observed, but myopia progression is much higher in China and Korea than in Germany. The most marked differences can be seen in the lower centiles. Further investigations should clarify whether commencement of preschool activities with prolonged near-work initiates the divergence in refractive development.

Indexed as

Growth ChartsRefraction, OcularAdolescentAge FactorsChildFemaleGermanyHumansMaleRefractive ErrorsSex Factors

Identifiers

PMID32160245
PMCPMC7065770

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.