Neonatal at risk factors, visual defects and the preschool child: A report from the Queen Mary Hospital multidisciplinary child development study.
An experimental group of 142 children aged four years who had experienced neonatal at risk factors and a control group of 112 children whose perinatal histories were optimal had vision screening tests to detect defective vision or strabismus. Five (3.5 percent) in the at risk group and 10 (8.9 percent) in the control group (total 15, 5.9 percent) were found to have a visual defect. Of those, six had already been identified because of a manifest squint. Nine children with defective vision were first identified through the study. The importance of the early identification and treatment of visual disorders, particularly amblyopia, is emphasised, and recommendations are made for more widespread vision screening of preschool children.
D000550:Amblyopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008403:Mass Screening; D009520:New Zealand; D013285:Strabismus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology