Table 1.

 Astigmatic error and axis at different ages in the study group

Age (number of eyes)	Astigmatism (D) mean (SD) (range)	Number of eyes (%)
		Nil	With the rule	Against the rule	Oblique
⩽2.9 years (17)	−0.53 (0.46) (0.00–1.75)	3 (17.6%)	6 (35.3%)	3 (17.6%)	5 (29.4%)
3 to 3.9 (126)	−0.64 (0.48) (0.00–2.50)	15 (11.9%)	56 (44.4%)	12 (9.5%)	43 (34.1%)
4 to 4.9 (165)	−0.68 (0.55) (0.00–3.00)	20 (12.1%)	79 (47.9%)	10 (6.1%)	56 (33.9%)
5 to 5.9 (172)	−0.64 (0.69) (0.00–4.75)	33 (19.2%)	75 (43.6%)	7 (4.1%)	57 (33.1%)
⩾6.0 (42)	−0.70 (0.51) (0.00–2.00)	6 (14.3%)	20 (47.6%)	3 (7.1%)	13 (31.0%)