Vision screening of school children: Should it be continued?

Pattison, Barbara; Plymat, Kay R.

doi:10.5172/conu.10.3-4.163

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The systematic review supported screening by school nurses with appropriate professional support and training by orthoptists [64]. It was found that nurses were highly accurate in screening for visual acuity, but may benefit from more assistance and training in detecting strabismus.…”

Section: School Age (6+ Years)mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The first review, of medium quality, supported screening of children aged six years and over by school nurses with appropriate professional support and training by orthoptists. [64] The second review, of high quality, concluded that orthoptic screening programs performed better than health visitor or general practitioner screening programs in terms of yield and positive predictive value when screening children aged three to six years. [65] One randomised controlled trial of medium quality evaluated the screening of three to six year old children.…”

Section: Overall Summary -Screener Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8) Colour vision screening was recommended and should be carried out between 9 and 13 years of age. B C C B M Pattison and Plymat (2001) [64] The purpose of the literature review was to summarise the literature on vision screening in preschools and schools. It was found that parent and teacher referral methods of screening were less than satisfactory, and professional screening of all children at school age should be continued.…”

Section: Fail Fogging Test N=166mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Vision screening in preschoolers: the New South Wales Statewide Eyesight Preschooler Screening program

Blows¹,

Murphy²,

Martin

et al. 2014

Medical Journal of Australia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To evaluate screening and diagnostic outcomes of the New South Wales Statewide Eyesight Preschooler Screening (StEPS) program, a state‐funded, universal vision screening program for 4‐year‐old children. Design, setting and participants: A cross‐sectional evaluation of the StEPS program, in which eligible 4‐year‐old children were offered a vision screen in local health districts in NSW, between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011. Main outcome measures: Number and proportion of eligible children who were offered screening; accepted screening; were screened and scored a pass or were referred (routinely or urgently) for further vision assessment; and were referred for further assessment and required intervention. Results: Of 91 324 eligible 4‐year‐olds in NSW, 80 328 (88.0%) were offered screening, and 65 834 (72.1% of the eligible population) were screened. Of the children who were screened, 3867 (5.9%) scored less than 6/9‐2 but better than 6/18 in one or both eyes and were referred to their general practitioner or eye health professional for further vision assessment. A further 1425 children (2.2%) scored 6/18 or less in one or both eyes and were referred for high‐priority assessment. In the two local health districts with the most complete follow‐up data, 704 of 779 children (90.4%) with routine referrals and 278 of 285 (97.5%) with high‐priority referrals required treatment or review at a later date. Conclusions: The StEPS program has achieved a high screening participation rate in NSW. Many children have been diagnosed and received treatment for previously undetected serious vision disorders that may otherwise have been diagnosed too late for effective intervention.

show abstract

Section: School Age (6+ Years)mentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Overall Summary -Screener Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fail Fogging Test N=166mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Vision screening in preschoolers: the New South Wales Statewide Eyesight Preschooler Screening program

Blows¹,

Murphy²,

Martin

et al. 2014

Medical Journal of Australia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One systematic review reported that nurses were highly accurate in screening for visual acuity, but may benefit from more assistance and training (Pattison & Plymat 2001).…”

Section: School Age (6+ Years)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the evidence on the effectiveness of children's vision screening

Mathers

Keyes

Wright

2010

Child

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Screening programmes enable health conditions to be identified so that effective interventions can be offered. The aim of this review was to determine: (1) the effectiveness of children's vision screening programmes; (2) at what age children should attend vision screening; and (3) what form vision screening programmes should take to be most effective. A literature review on the effectiveness of vision screening programmes in children aged 0-16 years was undertaken. Eligible studies/reviews were identified through clinical databases, hand searches and consultation with expert reviewers. The methodological quality of papers was rated using National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines. Screening of children 18 months to 5 years, and subsequent early treatment, led to improved visual outcomes. The benefit was primarily through treatment of amblyopia, with improved visual acuity of the amblyopic eye. However, the overall quality of the evidence was low. The implication of improved visual acuity (e.g. any potential impact on quality of life) was not considered. Without consideration of 'quality of life' values, such as loss of vision in one eye or possibility of future bilateral vision loss, the cost-effectiveness of screening is questionable. Screening and treating children with uncorrected refractive error can improve educational outcomes. Evidence suggested that screening occur in the preschool years. Orthoptists were favoured as screening personnel; however, nurses could achieve high sensitivity and specificity with appropriate training. Further research is required to assess the effectiveness of neonatal screening. Most studies suggested that children's vision screening was beneficial, although programme components varied widely (e.g. tests used, screening personnel and age at testing). Research is required to clearly define any improvements to quality of life and any related economic benefits resulting from childhood vision screening. The evidence could be used to guide optimization of existing programmes.

show abstract

“…Earlier vision screening can detect children with amblyopia and amblyogenic factors at an appropriate age where treatment is effective. 1,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends formal preschool vision screening, including formal testing of visual acuity and ocular alignment, beginning at age 3. 7 However, despite these recommendations, most children are not screened, perhaps because traditional vision screening methods typically are felt to have high overreferral rates, low sensitivity, and low specificity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%