Cerebral visual impairment-related vision problems in primary school children: a cross-sectional survey

To estimate how many children in mainstream primary schools have cerebral visual impairment (CVI)-related vision problems and to investigate whether some indicators might be useful as red flags, if they were associated with increased risk for these problems.

We conducted a survey of primary school children aged 5 to 11 years, using whether they were getting extra educational help and/or teacher- and parent-reported behaviour questionnaires to identify children at risk for CVI. These and a random 5% sample were assessed for CVI-related vision problems. We compared the usefulness of potential red flags using likelihood ratios.

We received questionnaires on 2298 mainstream-educated children and examined 248 children (152 [61%] males, 96 females [39%]; mean age 8y 1mo, SD 20mo, range 5y 6mo-11y 8mo). We identified 78 out of 248 children (31.5% of those examined, 3.4% of the total sample), who had at least one CVI-related vision problem. The majority (88%) were identified by one or more red flag but none were strongly predictive. Fewer than one in five children with any CVI-related vision problem had reduced visual acuity.

Children with CVI-related vision problems were more prevalent than has been appreciated. Assessment of at-risk children may be useful so that opportunities to improve outcomes for children with CVI-related vision problems are not missed.