Accommodative Amplitude and Facility in Orang Asli Schoolchildren: A Pilot Study from a Single Sample in Petaling District, Selangor

Objective: Accommodation response is essential for visual performance, enabling focus adjustment for near and far objects. This study examined the distribution of the accommodative amplitude (AA) and accommodative facility (AF) of Orang Asli (indigenous) primary schoolchildren in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia.Material and Methods: This purposive sampling study design was conducted among 28 Orang Asli schoolchildren aged 8-10 years. AA was measured using a Royal Air Force (RAF) ruler using the push-up method, while AF was assessed with ±2.00 diopters sphere (DS) flipper lenses. Results: The mean monocular AA was 14.59 diopters (D) ±2.95 and binocular AA was 15.81 D ±3.14, with a statistically significant difference between the two (p-value=0.025). Compared with Hofstetter’s average age-expected values, monocular AA (p-value=0.063) and binocular AA (p-value=0.484) showed no significant differences. Monocular accommodative facility (MAF) averaged 8.68 cycles per minute (cpm) ±3.05 and binocular accommodative facility (BAF) averaged 7.46 cpm ±2.89, with a significant difference between them (p-value=0.006). Both MAF and BAF values were significantly higher than established normative values (p-value=0.005).Conclusion: This pilot study provides preliminary accommodative function data for Orang Asli schoolchildren; however, the purposive sampling and limited sample size restrict the generalisability of the findings. Clinicians are encouraged to integrate these results with established guidelines for improved assessment and management of visual function in underserved indigenous populations.