evaluation of visual problems in children with pervasive developmental disorder

purpose: to report the rate of visual impairment in pervasive developmental disorder (pdd). methods: in this descriptive-analytic study 62 children with ppd diagnosed by a children psychiatrist were included. all subjects were evaluated for age, sex, systemic & eye conditions such as refractive errors, strabismus, oculomotor disorders, color vision, stereopsis, visual contact and fixation pattern. results: overall, 68% of cases were male and 32% were female; age ranged from 5 to 15 years (mean age=8.4 year). forty percent of case had no central fixation & 60% had inappropriate visual contact. 19.6% of cases had exotropia & 6.5% had esotropia.cycloplegic refraction demonstrated hyperopia in 72% of cases (mean= +1.3d). hyeropia ≥+ 1.5 was present in 50% of cases. the prevalence of astigmatism was 30% and 80% of them were with the rule. conclusion: ophthalmologic problems in ppd children appear to be mainly hyperopia, astigmatism and poor fixation. strabismus (especially exotropia) also has a high prevalence among ppd children which can lead to amblyopia.because of their limited communication; complete eye examination for early diagnosis should be recommended. keywords: pervasive developmental disorder, strabismus, refractive error, fixation pattern