title: [Functional vision assessment in children with low vision from two to six years of age - a comparative study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Functional Vision Assessment (AVIF-2 to 6 years)'s capacity to differentiate visual ability levels in children with low vision was analyzed. The AVIF-2 to 6 years was created at the Infantile Low Vision Sector from São Geraldo Hospital, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  After a debate among professionals from different areas regarding the appropriateness of the test items, AVIF-2 to 6 years was applied to 40 children aged from 2 to 6 years; twenty children with low vision (Group 1) and twenty without it (Group 2) were assessed. Group 1 was recruited from the Infantile Low Vision Sector from São Geraldo Hospital. Group 2 comprised children from two different public day care centers and children were matched by age, gender and social level with group 1. Seven domains were studied: visual fixation, visual following, visual field confrontation, eye-hand coordination and surrounding locomotion, contrast vision and color vision discrimination. Group 1 children were submitted to a complete ophthalmologic exam and group 2 to ophthalmologic screening. Children with low vision and neurologic disease were excluded. Comparative analyzes were performed for both groups and for distinct subgroups classified by age (24 to 35 months, 36 to 59 months and 60 to 78 months) and by visual acuity subgroups (<1.0 logMAR and ≥1.0 logMAR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The scores at total AVIF-2 to 6 years and its domains were statistically significant (p<0.05), except for the contrast vision and color vision discrimination domains. The total AVIF- 2 to 6 years median was lower for group 1 at the three interval ages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AVIF- 2 to 6 years can discriminate different levels of functional vision of low vision children, however the authors emphasize that although the results are encouraging, further studies shall be done until the test is ready for clinical use.
authors: Setor de Baixa Visão Infantil, Hospital São Geraldo, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. lucianarossi@ig.com.br
authors: Luciana Drummond de Figueiredo
authors: LD
authors: Rossi
authors: Galton Carvalho
authors: GC
authors: Vasconcelos
authors: Grace Rego
authors: GR
authors: Saliba
authors: Lívia de Castro
authors: Lde C
authors: Magalhães
authors: Angela Maria Anselmo
authors: AM
authors: Soares
authors: Silvia Santiago
authors: SS
authors: Cordeiro
authors: Regina Helena Caldas de
authors: RH
authors: Amorim
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*