Comparison of Two Photoscreeners in a Population of Syrian Refugee Children

To evaluate children in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan to better understand the prevalence of ocular pathology and to compare two photoscreening devices to evaluate their utility.

Families at the Syrian American Medical Society Clinic were offered vision screening for children aged 1 to 18 years. Participants were offered visual acuity measurement and photoscreening with two devices approved for use in the United States. If visual acuity in either eye was worse than 20/40 or either photoscreening device indicated possible pathology, a complete eye examination was performed with cycloplegic refraction and dilated examination.

Ninety-one participants completed the screening protocol. The average age of participants who completed the study was 7.8 years (range: 1 to 16 years). Twenty-eight participants (30.8%) failed at least one screening component. In this population, the following pathology was identified: astigmatism (12.1%), esotropia (9.9%), amblyopia (9.9%), hyperopia (7.7%), exotropia (3.3%), and myopia (1.1%). The Plusoptix vision screener (Plusoptix) had a sensitivity of 100% for the identification of amblyopia and 85% specificity. The GoCheck Kids application (Gobiquity) had a sensitivity of 66.67% for the identification of amblyopia and 94% specificity. The positive predictive value for the Plusoptix vision screener and the GoCheck Kids application for the detection of amblyopia risk factors was 77% for both.

The high rate of ophthalmic pathology identified in this study reinforces the urgent need for proper vision screening and intervention in this population. [.