Purpose: To detect an ideal age of screening for amblyopia or its risk factors. Method: 500 patients below 16 years of age, who presented at a tertiary eye hospital for their first eye checkup, were included in the study. They were divided according to the age group of ≤ 4 and > 4 years, and ≤ 7 and > 7 years with the aim of detecting an ideal age of screening for amblyopia. Result: Mean age at presentation was 5.24 ± 3.58 years (standard deviation; SD). Though 75 patients were asymptomatic, ocular abnormalities were found in 30 (40%) of them. In the whole group of 500, abnormalities were found in 350 children (70%). Spectacles were prescribed in 218 (43.6%) patients with mean age of 6.07 ± 3.09 (SD) years. Total number of amblyopic children was 38 (7.6%) with mean age of 5.98 ± 3.41 years. In the ≤ 4 years age group, amblyopia was in 9 (23.68%)(mean age 2.13 years) and prescribable refractive error was in 46 (21.1%)(mean age 2.55 years). Mean age of 61 (12.2%) strabismic patients was 4.29 years and 16 (3.2%) pediatric cataract patients were 3.48 years. Conclusion: Significant patients had amblyopia or risk factors for it at a mean age of around 3 years. So the ideal age for first routine eye checkup for all children should be around 3 years.

Purpose: To detect an ideal age of screening for amblyopia or its risk factors. Method: 500 patients below 16 years of age, who presented at a tertiary eye hospital for their first eye checkup, were included in the study. They were divided according to the age group of ≤ 4 and > 4 years, and ≤ 7 and > 7 years with the aim of detecting an ideal age of screening for amblyopia. Result: Mean age at presentation was 5.24 ± 3.58 years (standard deviation; SD). Though 75 patients were asymptomatic, ocular abnormalities were found in 30 (40%) of them. In the whole group of 500, abnormalities were found in 350 children (70%). Spectacles were prescribed in 218 (43.6%) patients with mean age of 6.07 ± 3.09 (SD) years. Total number of amblyopic children was 38 (7.6%) with mean age of 5.98 ± 3.41 years. In the ≤ 4 years age group, amblyopia was in 9 (23.68%)(mean age 2.13 years) and prescribable refractive error was in 46 (21.1%)(mean age 2.55 years). Mean age of 61 (12.2%) strabismic patients was 4.29 years and 16 (3.2%) pediatric cataract patients were 3.48 years. Conclusion: Significant patients had amblyopia or risk factors for it at a mean age of around 3 years. So the ideal age for first routine eye checkup for all children should be around 3 years.