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AOA ‘disappointed’ in USPSTF recommendations for vision screening
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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, in a report released in JAMA Monday, recommended that clinicians screen children for amblyopia or its risk factors at least once while the child is between 3 and 5 years of age, a reaffirmation of findings the group released in 2011.
The American Optometric Association, in a statement provided to Healio/Primary Care Optometry News, said it is “disappointed and concerned that [the statement] reflects no changes since the last update in 2011 and disregards children’s vision and eye health needs.”
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) chair, David C. Grossman, MD, MPH, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente Washington and senior medical director for the Washington Permanente Medical Group, said in a press release from USPSTF: “We found that there is not enough evidence to determine if screening children younger than age 3 is beneficial.”
The AOA’s recently released Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Comprehensive Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination recommends that infants between the ages of 6 and 12 months receive a comprehensive vision assessment by an eye doctor, and that children between the ages of 3 and 5 years receive an in-person comprehensive eye exam by an eye doctor.
A National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report released last fall “confirmed that undiagnosed and uncorrected eye and vision problems in children are a significant public health concern,” the AOA statement said.
AOA President Christopher Quinn, OD, was quoted in the statement: “The new [USPSTF] recommendation reiterating ‘no change’ appears to overlook the NASEM report, which underscored that avoidable vision impairment occurs because of outdated assumptions, missed opportunities and shortfalls in public health policy and health care delivery.”
The AOA noted that the NASEM report was developed by a task force of eye health and vision care experts, including optometrists and ophthalmologists.
The association stated that screenings miss up to 75% of school children with vision problems and, of those found to have problems, 61% do not get treatment.
In addition, “The vast majority of children’s vision screenings have high rates of ‘false negatives,’” the AOA said.
“Doctors of optometry are extremely concerned that the USPSTF [recommendation] will continue to hamper ongoing efforts to combat unacceptably high rates of preventable and treatable vision loss in children, especially among vulnerable and at-risk children ...,” Quinn said.
The AOA also stated that the USPSTF’s recommendation is for “amblyopia” screening and not “vision” screening, as it is titled, a discrepancy the AOA urged the USPSTF to correct after reviewing a draft recommendation in March.
“Screenings may identify some children at risk for vision problems,” the AOA stated, “but an in-person comprehensive eye exam is the only way to make the bridge between an accurate and definitive diagnosis and appropriate treatment.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO
Disclosures: Grossman and Quinn reported no relevant financial disclosures.