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Astigmatic market
Just how big is the astigmatic market? And how much is it an opportunity to increase your patient base? Among our younger patients the prevalence of astigmatism is quite high. Kleinstein et al reported on the prevalence of refractive error in 2,523 children between the ages of five and 17.1 They were all examined and classified by their refractive error and ethnic grouping. Overall, they found an incidence of myopia of 9.2 per cent, hyperopia 12.8 per cent and astigmatism of 28.4 per cent, with the Asian children showing a prevalence of 33.6 per cent. There is a variability from study to study about the point at which a patient is considered astigmatic, whether it is 0.75DC or 1.00DC. When 0.75DC is used, Holden et al showed that 45 per cent of the population had 0.75DC or more dioptres of astigmatism. The astigmatism remains with us throughout life, although the direction of astigmatism changes as we age from with-the-rule to against-the-rule.
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