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Vision disorders linked to poor stereoacuity in preschoolers, study shows
In a recent study, researchers found that preschool children with severe vision disorders were more likely to have worse stereoacuity than children with milder or no vision disorders.
Ciner and colleagues set out to assess the relationship between stereoacuity and presence, type and severity of vision disorders in Head Start preschool children. The study, published in Optometry and Vision Science, also looked to determine testability and levels of stereoacuity according to age in children without a vision disorder.
Researchers studied 2,898 children, 3 to 5 years old, in the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study. Children were evaluated with the Stereo Smile II test during a vision examination. They were classified by the presence or absence of a vision disorder as well as type and severity; disorders included amblyopia, strabismus, significant refractive error or unexplained reduced visual acuity.
The results showed that children with VIP Study-targeted vision disorders had significantly worse stereoacuity than children without vision disorders. Researchers found that the more severe the disorder, the worse the stereoacuity.
"The presence of any VIP Study-targeted vision disorder was associated with significantly worse stereoacuity in preschool children," the authors concluded. "Severe vision disorders were more likely associated with poorer stereopsis than milder or no vision disorders. Testability was excellent at all ages. These results support the validity of the Stereo Smile II for assessing random-dot stereoacuity in preschool children."
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Optom Vis Sci. 2014;doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000000165.