Importance One of the most important causes of vision abnormalities in children is amblyopia (also known as "lazy eye"). Amblyopia is an alteration in the visual neural pathway in a child's developing brain that can lead to permanent vision loss in the affected eye. Among children younger than 6 years, 1% to 6% have amblyopia or its risk factors (strabismus, anisometropia, or both). Early ident...

The Vision First Check Program was developed in consultation with ophthalmology and optometry representatives on the provincial Vision Advisory Committee and piloted by participating optometrists in four communities in BC between January and June 1998. This preschool vision screening program provides for one vision screening for children aged two and three at no cost to the family or the Medica...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Single optotype tests of visual acuity are widely used for preschool vision screening in order to optimise cooperation with testing. These tests may, however, underestimate the visual acuity deficit in amblyopia because they lack visual crowding. This study assessed the resultant negative predictive value (NPV) for amblyopia. METHODS Cohort study of 936 children in the Cambrid...

Objective. To report the results of the W.H.E.E.L.S. Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic vision screening program that targets preschoolers using the Plusoptix Photoscreener (Plusoptix Inc., Nuremburg, Germany). Methods. Trained program staff members conducted vision screenings at up to 113 preschool programs in the Richmond metropolitan area for four consecutive years; a cross-sectional analysis wa...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether population screening for impaired vision among older people in the community leads to improvements in vision. DESIGN Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of population screening in the community that included any assessment of vision or visual function with at least 6 months' follow up. SUBJECTS Adults aged 65 or over. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Proporti...

Simple but effective tests have been produced for screening subjects with low vision in developing countries. These tests of distance and near vision, based on the E test, were evaluated and validated in trials with people aged 4-90 years, and have been field tested in the health, education and rehabilitation services in 32 developing countries. Their sensitivity and specificity as screening to...

Results: All studies that have been published to date on the efficacy of preschool visual screening suffer from methodological flaws. The avail able data suggest a benefit from screening, though this has not been proven. Model calculations reveal that the positive predictive value of screening tests performed in isolation is inadequate. The authors of the two national reports applied different ...