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[Early visual screening appears essential to detect complete amblyopia risk and to treat strabismus earlier]
1Service Départemental de PMI, Conseil Général des Hauts de Seine, Nanterre, France.
Insights
Early vision screening for children under three significantly increased the number of children receiving corrective lenses and follow-up care for visual abnormalities.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Ophthalmology
- Public Health Screening
- Child Development
Background:
- Standardized medical examinations for infants and children are crucial for early detection of health issues.
- Ophthalmological screening in early childhood is essential for identifying potential visual impairments.
- Developing adapted screening techniques for infants and young children is a public health priority.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the technique and outcomes of a pediatric vision screening program.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of early visual screening in detecting ocular anomalies, strabismus, and amblyopia.
- To assess the impact of screening on the management of visual impairments in children under three.
Main Methods:
- A standardized screening procedure was implemented across 17 centers over one year.
- 1366 children aged 9 and 24 months were included in the study.
- Screening involved assessing personal/family risk factors and detecting ocular anomalies, strabismus, and amblyopia.
Main Results:
- Only 10% of children had prior ophthalmology consultations.
- 12.5% of children were suspected of having a risk of visual impairment during screening.
- 39.7% of children were referred for an ophthalmic consultation, leading to a fourfold increase in corrective lens prescription and follow-up.
Conclusions:
- Early vision screening for children under three years of age is highly effective.
- The screening program significantly increased the number of children diagnosed with and treated for visual abnormalities.
- Implementing adapted screening techniques improves early detection and management of pediatric visual impairments.
Introduction:
Early medical examinations performed in 2-, 4-, 9-, and 24-month-olds need to set up a technique adapted to infants and children. The aim of this study was to describe the technique and the results of screening performed by physicians of the Hauts-de-Seine district in 2004.
Patients And Methods:
Over 1 year, 17 participating centers of the Maternal and Infant Welfare department of the Hauts-de-Seine district (France) included 1366 children at the 9- and 24-month medical consultation. This standardized procedure looked for personal and family risk factors and sought to detect ocular anomalies, strabismus, and amblyopia. Depending on the results, the patient was oriented toward appropriate care.
Results:
At inclusion, only 10% of the children had already consulted an ophthalmologist with insufficient numbers in the risk groups although the difference between groups was significant. Of the children included, 30.2% had a family history of visual impairment and 7% a personal risk. During the examination, a risk of visual impairment was suspected for 12.5% of the children. At the end of the consultation, 39.7% of the children were oriented to an ophthalmic consultation, with the history or the results of the examination. One of these children out of two underwent a consultation. Finally, 31 children were prescribed corrective glasses compared to only eight wearing glasses initially and 65 children were followed up as opposed to only seven children before the study.
Conclusion:
This screening has led to quadrupling the number of children wearing corrective lenses and monitoring the others presenting visual abnormalities, confirming the advantages of early visual screening for children under 3 years of age.
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