Do we have optimal screening limits in Sweden for vision testing at the age of 4 years?

Hård, Anna‐Lena; Williams, Penelope; Sjöstrand, Johan

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0420.1995.tb00320.x

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our review has been unable to provide information on the adverse effects of population based preschool vision screening programmes. This is an important omission as concerns about harm exists, particularly from disruption of normal eye development [ 38 ], temporary loss of visual acuity in the non-amblyopic eye [ 39 ] and costs associated with further evaluation of children with false-positive screening results [ 40 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of screening preschool children for amblyopia: a systematic review

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Amblyopia and amblyogenic factors like strabismus and refractive errors are the most common vision disorders in children. Although different studies suggest that preschool vision screening is associated with a reduced prevalence rate of amblyopia, the value of these programmes is the subject of a continuing scientific and health policy discussion. Therefore, this systematic review focuses on the question of whether screening for amblyopia in children up to the age of six years leads to better vision outcomes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of screening preschool children for amblyopia: a systematic review

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This gave a low number of false negatives and the number of false positive cases was also reasonably low, constituting a rather small extra load on the paediatric ophthalmology departments, since these children usually required only one examination. However, the visual acuity level below 0.65 has been used for referral in some areas of Sweden and Hård et al (16) recommend this limit, since they argue that very few cases are missed and that overreferral is a problem. Overreferral also leads to increased costs for the screening.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Screening for visual and ocular disorders in children, evaluation of the system in Sweden

1998

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to evaluate the visual screening system in Sweden. We have made a retrospective investigation of the results of screening for ocular disease and visual impairment of all children born in 1982 in three Swedish communities. The records from screening examinations from 0 to 10 y and from diagnostic follow‐up at the departments of ophthalmology that the children were referred to were inspected. The data were used to evaluate the efficiency of the Swedish visual screening system. The study included 3126 children. The attendance rate at the 4‐y examination was better than 99%. The sensitivity of the 4‐ and 5.5‐y screening examinations was on the average 92% and the specificity was 97%. The average number of false negative cases at 4 y was 5.6 in 1000 (0.56%). With this screening and subsequent diagnosis and treatment, the prevalence of amblyopia at different levels of visual acuity at the age of 10 y was: 0.06% with visual acuity <0.1,0.9% with visual acuity <0.5 and 1.7% with visual acuity < 0.7. In spite of largely unchanged pressure of amblyogenic factors in the population, the prevalence of deep and moderate amblyopia has been markedly reduced by screening and early treatment.

show abstract

“…However, in Sweden we have a tradition of referring children with only slightly reduced vision (i.e. VA < 0.8 [logMAR 0.1]), although, at least at 4 years of age, children with VA of 0.65 (logMAR 0.2) rarely have defects needing treatment (Hård et al. 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Results of vision screening of 6‐year‐olds at school: a population‐based study with emphasis on screening limits

Hård

2007

Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. Purpose: To evaluate newly introduced vision screening of 6‐year‐olds in the preschool class with special regard to screening criteria. Methods: Monocular visual acuity (VA) testing in 6‐year‐olds by school nurses as part of preventive health care was introduced in Sweden 2003. Children with VA < 0.8 (logMAR 0.1) or symptoms are referred to eye clinics where VA testing, cover testing, cycloplegic autorefraction and ophthalmoscopy are performed. The present screening limit of 0.8 (logMAR 0.1) was evaluated in relation to a limit of 0.65 (logMAR 0.2). All children in the City of Gothenburg starting preschool class in 2003 were included. Results: A total of 127 schools with 3885 pupils participated. Of these, 255 pupils (6.6%) were referred and 236 underwent an ophthalmological examination. Children with a VA of 0.65 (logMAR 0.2) in the worse eye constituted 74.5% of those who had failed the screening; more than half of these were found to have VA ≥ 0.8 (logMAR 0.1) in the clinic. Many were not refracted in cycloplegia and only 6.7% were found to have significant ametropia. The criteria for the prescription of glasses varied; 13.4% of these children were prescribed glasses for insignificant refractive errors. Conclusions: Six‐year‐olds with VA of 0.65 (logMAR 0.2) rarely have defects that require treatment and the screening criterion of 0.8 (logMAR 0.1) is probably too demanding for effective utilization of available resources. Retest before referral and refraction in cycloplegia of all children with reduced VA or visual symptoms are recommended.

show abstract

Do we have optimal screening limits in Sweden for vision testing at the age of 4 years?

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Effectiveness of screening preschool children for amblyopia: a systematic review

Effectiveness of screening preschool children for amblyopia: a systematic review

Screening for visual and ocular disorders in children, evaluation of the system in Sweden

Results of vision screening of 6‐year‐olds at school: a population‐based study with emphasis on screening limits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About