A new school-based program to provide eyeglasses: childsight.
OBJECTIVE
To address the unmet need for glasses encountered in an urban school setting by developing and implementing a school-based, cost-effective program that provides appropriate spectacle correction to needy children.


METHODS
A total of 5851 students 9 to 15 years of age in 4 middle schools in northern Manhattan were screened for vision. Those with vision worse than 20/40 were examined, given glasses if appropriate, or referred for additional evaluation.


RESULTS
Of the 5851 children screened, 1614 (28%) had a failing result, with visual acuity less than 20/40 in the worse eye. Of this group, 1082 were given glasses that were assembled at the school within 1 hour of testing. Ten percent of the group that required glasses already had them, and the remaining were referred for a complete ophthalmic examination that was completed in 58 cases. Only 14 of these had vision loss unrelated to refractive error.


CONCLUSIONS
The program successfully treated 88.3% of the children within the school who needed glasses. Given that only 10% of children who needed glasses had them, it indicates a huge need to provide glasses to at least a million children in this age group in the United States.
Pizzarello
L
L
Helen Keller International, the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10006, USA.
Tilp
M
M
Tiezzi
L
L
Vaughn
R
R
McCarthy
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012574:Schools; D015351:Vision Screening; D014787:Vision Tests; D014792:Visual Acuity