title: Comparison of visual acuity results in preschool children with lea symbols and Bailey-Lovie E chart.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare visual acuity with two visual acuity charts in preschool children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Visual acuity measurement with Lea symbols and Bailey-Lovie tumbling E chart was performed on children between 3 and 6 years of age. Visual acuity data from the two charts were analyzed with Bland-Altman plot to determine the limits of agreement. The Wilcoxon signed test was performed in children aged 3-4 years and in children aged 5-6 years separately to evaluate the influence of age. The inter-eye difference between the two charts were further analyzed with the paired t-test. A p value > 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 47 children were enrolled for the study. The average logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR) monocular visual acuity with Lea symbols (0.17 ± 0.13) was better than the Bailey-Lovie tumbling E chart (0.22 ± 0.14). The mean difference between Bailey-Lovie tumbling E chart and Lea symbol chart was 0.05 ± 0.12 in logMAR units. A second analysis eliminating outliers showed the same result but lower differences (n = 43, 0.05 ± 0.05 logMAR units). Visual acuity results between the two charts in children aged 3-4 years showed a significant difference (p = 0.000), but not for children aged 5-6 years (p = 0.059). Inter-eye differences between the two charts was not statistically significant (p = 0.77).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bailey-Lovie tumbling E chart is comparable to the Lea symbols chart in pre-school children. But preference should be given to Lea symbols for children aged 3-4 years as the symbols are more familiar than a directional test for this age group.
authors: Department of Optometry, Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal University, Karnataka, India.
authors: Nijil
authors: N
authors: Sanker
authors: Sayyeda
authors: S
authors: Dhirani
authors: Premjit
authors: P
authors: Bhakat
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015351:Vision Screening / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Bailey-Lovie tumbling E chart; Lea symbols; visual acuity