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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking
Published on: July 9, 2016
Cerebral visual impairment captured with a structured history inventory in extremely preterm born children aged
Kerstin Hellgren1, Lena Jacobson2, Paolo Frumento3
1Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Ophthalmology and Vision, Marianne Bernadotte Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Insights
A questionnaire effectively identifies cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in extremely preterm (EPT) children, matching direct assessments. This tool aids clinicians and parents in recognizing CVI
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Ophthalmology
- Developmental Neuroscience
Background:
- Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a significant concern in children born extremely preterm (EPT).
- Accurate identification of CVI is crucial for timely intervention and support.
- Current diagnostic methods can be resource-intensive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a questionnaire's accuracy in identifying CVI in 6.5-year-old EPT children.
- To compare questionnaire-based CVI detection with direct clinical assessments.
Main Methods:
- Prospective population-based study of 120 EPT children (born <27 weeks GA) and 97 full-term controls at 6.5 years.
- Utilized the Extremely Preterm Infants in Sweden Study (EXPRESS) cohort.
- Compared parent-reported CVI features via questionnaire against comprehensive visual, perceptual, and cognitive assessments.
Main Results:
- Parents of EPT children reported significantly more CVI features than controls (median scores 25 vs. 11, P < 0.001).
- Lower reported CVI scores correlated with better direct assessment outcomes in EPT children.
- The questionnaire demonstrated good discrimination between EPT and control groups.
Conclusions:
- The questionnaire effectively identifies CVI in EPT children, comparable to direct assessments.
- It aligns with other measures of visual, perceptual, and cognitive deficits.
- This user-friendly tool offers valuable insights for clinicians and parents regarding CVI's impact on daily life.
Purpose:
To investigate whether a questionnaire can identify cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in a group of 6.5-year-old children born extremely preterm (EPT) as accurately as direct assessments.
Methods:
This prospective population-based study included 120 children born before 27 weeks' gestational age (66 males; mean, 25.4 ± 1.0 weeks) and 97 full-term controls (56 males; mean, 39.9 ± 1.1 weeks) at the age of 6.5 years, as part of the Extremely Preterm Infants in Sweden Study (EXPRESS). A questionnaire for detection of CVI was evaluated and compared with visual, perceptual, and cognitive assessments.
Results:
Parents of children born EPT reported more CVI features than the parents of control children, with median sum scores of 25 (95% CI, 18.1-31.9) and 11 (95% CI, 8.8-13.2), respectively (P < 0.001), and a median difference of 14 (95% CI, 6.6-21.4). Low rates of reported CVI features were significantly associated with better results from direct assessments within the EPT group and with less pronounced differences compared to controls.
Conclusions:
The questionnaire discriminated well between children born EPT and controls, and the scores were congruent with other evidence of visual, perceptual, and cognitive deficits. The easily used questionnaire compared favorably with direct assessment in identifying CVI in children born EPT and also provides valuable information to clinicians, and parents about the daily life problems associated with CVI.
