title: Amblyopia Prevention Screening Program in Northwest Iran (Ardabil).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of amblyopia screening in Ardabil Province in three examination levels by kindergarten teacher, optometrist, and ophthalmologist.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, the results of the national amblyopic prevention program in 2-6 years old children in Ardabil Province were investigated in 2012. The results pertained to the examinations of children participating in this research were collected in the national approved forms. The data were entered into the computer and were analyzed using statistical methods in SPSS 18.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Around 38,844 children (51.7%) out of 75173 with 2-6 years old qualified children participated in the screening program in Ardabil Province. In the first stage of screening, 1068 children (33.1%) are visually impaired in one eye and 2160 children (66.9%) are visually impaired in two eyes. In the second stage, the results related to the examinations by optometrists indicated that the prevalence of refractive errors, strabismus, and others were 70%, 27.8%, and 2.2%, respectively. Refractive errors problem was most prevalent in Ardabil city (72.6%).The prevalence of refractive errors, strabismus, and other reasons in amblyopic children was 51.3%, 23.9%, and 24.8%; respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present investigation showed that coverage of amblyopia screening program was not enough in Ardabil Province. To increase the screening accuracy, standard instruments and examination room must be used; more optometrists must be involved in this program and increasing the validity of obtained results for future programming.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ojaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Roozbeh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moghaddar
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeid Sadeghieh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ahari
authors.affiliation: Medical Student Research Committee and Social Determinant of Health Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahadoram
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
authors.forename: Firouz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amani
keywords: Amblyopia; Ardabil; children; prevention; screening; strabismus