Materials and Methods: Ophthalmological examination findings and cycloplegic refraction values of 92 preschool children aged 3 to 6 years were retrospectively evaluated. Children were divided into two groups: vaginal delivery (VD) and cesarean section (CS). Results were compared between groups.

Results: Of the 92 children with a mean age of 4.7 ± 1.0 included in the study, 50 (54.3%) had a history of VD and 42 (45.7%) had a history of CS. The prevalence of myopia (spherical equivalent (SE)-0.50 D or less), hyperopia (SE +2.00 D or more), astigmatism (cylindrical power -1.00 D or less) and significant astigmatism (cylindrical power -2.00 D or less) was 14 % (n=7), 42 % (n=21), 70 % (n=35) and 8 % (n=4) in the VD group, and 11.9 % (n=5), 2.4% (n=1), 76.2 % (n=32) and 2.4% (n=1) in the CS group, respectively. Hyperopia was significantly higher in children with a history of VD (p<0.005). Although children with a history of VD have lower rate of astigmatism and a higher rate of significant astigmatism and with-the-rule astigmatism compared to CS, there was no significant difference in severity or type of astigmatism between groups (p=0.506, p=0.236, and p=0.353).

Conclusion: Our findings have shown that refractive differences observed in preschool children related to MOD are associated with hyperopia rather than astigmatism. Further studies involving larger sample sizes and detailed ocular biometric measurements are needed to clarify these associations. Keywords : Astigmatism, cesarean section, preschooler, vaginal delivery