Photorefraction with Spot Vision Screener versus Visual Acuity Testing as Community-Based Preschool Vision Screening at the Age of 3.5 Years in Japan

Toshihiko Matsuo, Chie Matsuo, Masami Kayano, Aya Mitsufuji, Chiyori Satou and Hiroaki Matsuoka
Additional contact information
Toshihiko Matsuo: Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Chie Matsuo: Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Masami Kayano: Okayama City Government Health Office, Okayama 700-8546, Japan
Aya Mitsufuji: Okayama City Government Health Office, Okayama 700-8546, Japan
Chiyori Satou: Okayama City Government Health Office, Okayama 700-8546, Japan
Hiroaki Matsuoka: Okayama City Government Health Office, Okayama 700-8546, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: Nationwide in Japan, a community-based vision-screening program in 3.5-year-old children is conducted in three steps: questionnaires and home visual acuity testing as the primary screening; visual acuity testing by nurses and pediatricians’ inspection in community health centers as the secondary screening; and examinations by ophthalmologists as the tertiary screening. In this study, we introduced photorefraction with a Spot vision screener in addition to visual acuity testing to answer the clinical question of whether photorefraction could better detect eye diseases and potentially replace visual acuity testing. Photorefraction was performed on 813 consecutive 3.5-year-old children in a center. The children were sent to tertiary examinations, which were based on the Spot vision screener standard, in addition to the visual acuity testing standard: failure in either eye to pass 0.5 visual acuity in a center. A notice to visit ophthalmologists was issued for 95 children (11%), and documents with the diagnosis were sent back to the Heath Office for 76 children (80%). The rate of children with anisometropic or ametropic amblyopia or accommodative esotropia as treatment-requiring diseases was highest in cases of no pass at both standards (10/15 = 66%), and higher in cases of no pass only at the Spot vision screener standard (13/45 = 28%), compared with cases of no pass only at the visual acuity testing standard (6/33 = 18%, p = 0.0031). Photorefraction, in addition to visual acuity testing and inspection led to additional eye diseases detection at 3.5 years. Visual acuity testing at home would not be omitted in the introduction of photorefraction.

Keywords: strabismus; amblyopia; refractive error; photorefraction; preschool vision-screening program; Spot vision screener; visual acuity test; 3.5-year-old children; community health center; nurse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8655/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8655/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8655-:d:864135

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().