title: Outcomes of an elementary school-based vision screening program in North Carolina.
abstract: School nurses can play a key role in the detection of significant refractive error. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a statewide school nurse vision screening program by evaluating the outcomes of screening among first, third, and fifth graders in 10 schools in North Carolina during the 2009-2010 school year. Of the 2,726 children who were screened, 7.7% (n = 209) were abnormal, of which 89% (n = 186) were placed into a comprehensive database for follow-up. No documentation of any follow-up was available for 35% (n = 65) of these children. Of the 106 with complete eye examination data available, 54.7% (n = 58) had myopia, 22.6% (n = 24) had hyperopia, 11.3% (n = 12) had astigmatism, 1.9% (n = 2) had anisometropia, and 9.4% (n = 10) were normal. Even with incomplete follow-up, this screening activity led to identification of 3 cases for every 100 children screened, underscoring the importance of high-quality school-based vision screening programs.
authors.affiliation: Duke Clinical Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA. alex.kemper@duke.edu
authors.forename: Alex R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kemper
authors.forename: Anya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helfrich
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Talbot
authors.forename: Nita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D009657:North Carolina; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing; D012572:School Health Services; D012573:School Nursing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012574:Schools; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*