title: A systematic review of vision screening tests for the detection of amblyopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the test characteristics and the quality of evidence regarding available screening tests for the detection of amblyopia in preschool-aged children to help primary care practitioners select a screening strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review of published studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MEDLINE database was searched from 1966 through January 1999 using a broad and inclusive strategy. A total of 9551 citations were identified.
  
  
  METHODS
  All studies that compared the results of commercially available screening tests in preschool-aged children to ophthalmologic examination.
  
  
  METHODS
  The setting of the study, the age of the population, the type of screening test, criteria for a positive screen, criteria for the ophthalmologic examination, test characteristics, and measures of reliability were abstracted by 2 reviewers for each selected study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four eligible articles were identified that studied the test characteristics of 3 screening tests. None of these studies were performed in a primary care setting. Each study used different criteria for failure of the ophthalmologic examination. None of the studies measured observer or test reliability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Few high-quality data exist regarding the performance of preschool vision screening. Important future work should include the development of a consensus gold standard ophthalmologic examination and evaluation of screening tests in the primary care setting.
authors.affiliation: Children's Primary Care Research Group, Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7225, USA. akemper@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kemper
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Bordley
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity