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Published on: March 24, 2020
Clinical correlation between automated vision screening under cycloplegia and retinoscopy in young children
Adriana Geremias1, Nathalia Perussi Garcia1, Caio Amadeo Silva Moreira1
1Hospital Oftalmológico Visão Laser, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Insights
The Spot Vision Screener shows high sensitivity and specificity for detecting vision issues in preverbal children. This automated screening tool correlates well with retinoscopy, aiding early amblyopia risk factor identification.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Optometry
- Medical Technology
Background:
- Early detection of vision abnormalities in preverbal children is crucial for preventing amblyopia.
- Traditional methods like retinoscopy can be challenging in very young children.
- Automated photo-screening devices offer a potential solution for efficient vision screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the clinical performance of the Spot Vision Screener in preverbal children.
- To establish correlations between automated screening and retinoscopy after cycloplegia.
- To evaluate the device's accuracy in identifying refractive errors like hypermetropia, myopia, and astigmatism.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, cross-sectional study involving 185 children aged 6-36 months.
- Vision screening using the Spot Vision Screener.
- Ophthalmologic examination including cycloplegic refraction, repeat screening, and retinoscopy.
Main Results:
- The Spot Vision Screener demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 87.04% specificity after cycloplegia.
- The device showed a strong correlation with retinoscopy findings.
- Minor overestimations in spherical and cylindrical values were observed compared to retinoscopy.
Conclusions:
- The Spot Vision Screener is a clinically effective tool for vision screening in preverbal children.
- Automated photo-screening, like the Spot Vision Screener, can be used alongside retinoscopy for accurate diagnosis.
- Early screening and intervention using photoscreening can significantly impact population-level eye health.
Purpose:
To evaluate the clinical performance of the Spot Vision Screener and establish clinical correlations between automated screening and retinoscopy following induction of cycloplegia in preverbal children.
Methods:
In this prospective, cross-sectional study, children aged 6-36 months were evaluated using the Spot Vision Screener. A complete ophthalmologic examination, including cycloplegic refraction assessment, was performed, followed by repeat spot vision screening and retinoscopy in all cases to establish correlations regarding hypermetropia, myopia, and astigmatism following induction of induction cycloplegia.
Results:
The study included 185 children. The sensitivity of the automated screener after cycloplegia was 100% (95%CI: 85.18-100%), and specificity was 87.04% (95%CI: 80.87-91.79%). Positive and negative predictive values were 52.27% (42.36-62.01%) and 100%, respectively. Compared to retinoscopy, the Spot Vision Screener overestimated spherical values by 0.62 D (95%CI: 0.56-0.69) in the right eye and by 0.60 (95%CI: 0.54-0.66) in the left eye and cylindrical values by -0.38 D in the right eye (95%CI: -0.42--0.33) and by -0.39 D in the left eye (95%CI: -0.43--0.34). For overall spherical and cylindrical values, the difference was 0.61 D (95%CI: 0.57-0.65) and -0.38 D (95%CI: -0.41--0.35) in the left and right eyes, respectively.
Conclusion:
A substantial correlation was found between retinoscopy and objective data captured by the device. This shows that technology can be used in conjunction, reaching a more accurate diagnosis and identifying amblyopia risk factors as early as possible. Photoscreening may make a difference at the population level for early screening and intervention.

