This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Large cohort study finds vision screening effective means of detecting amblyopia
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;doi:10.1167/iovs.08-3352.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Preschool screening rated higher in detection success than preverbal screening in refractive amblyopia cases, a large study found.
"Amblyopia detection followed positive vision screening in 56 children, either preverbal (15 children) or preschool screening (41)," the study authors said. "Twenty-six other amblyopes had been self-referred (in 12 children, before their first positive screening test), especially strabismic or combined-mechanism amblyopia (16 cases)."
The Rotterdam Amblyopia Screening Effectiveness Study was a 7-year birth cohort study begun in 1996/1997 of 4,626 children. In 2004, 2,964 children underwent a final examination by study orthoptists. The age for final examination was 7 years.
Of those, amblyopia was diagnosed in 100 cases (3.4%).
In the study, regional orthoptists diagnosed and treated subjects, with two experts reviewing diagnosis. In addition, parents answered written questionnaires and telephone interview questions about their child's eye history.
The study found that amblyopia was caused by refractive error in 42 children, strabismus in 19, combined mechanism in 30, deprivation in seven and unknown causes in two.