title: The prevalence of ocular structural disorders and nystagmus among preschool-aged children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence of structural disorders of the eye and nystagmus in preschool-aged children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based evaluation of children 6 months through 71 months of age in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 4,132 children identified from 54 census tracts, 3,990 eligible children (97%) were enrolled and 2,546 children (62%) were examined. Structural disorders were found in 41 children and nystagmus in 9 children for an overall prevalence of 1.96% (95% CI, 1.46%-2.59%). Only 11 (0.43%; 95% CI, 0.22%-0.77%) had vision loss in at least one eye, most often due to posterior segment disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Structural ocular abnormalities and nystagmus combined are present in nearly 2% of preschool-aged children in this population-based study. Vision loss due to these abnormalities is uncommon.
authors.affiliation: Zanvyl Krieger Children's Eye Center and Adult Strabismus Service, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287-9028, USA. mrepka@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Michael X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Repka
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ibironke
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tielsch
mesh_terms: D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity; D005124:Eye Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020417:Nystagmus, Congenital / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013285:Strabismus / Q000453:epidemiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity