Eyeglasses for Children - a Survey of Daily Practice.
BACKGROUND
Glasses for children are recommended and prescribed by different groups of professionals. We set out to compare the prescription practices of ophthalmologists, orthoptists and optometrists/opticians in Switzerland.


METHODS
Online questionnaire on the prescription and recommendation of glasses in fictitious cases of children of different ages, refractive values and symptoms. The questionnaire was sent out to members of the Swiss Ophthalmological Society, Swiss Orthoptics and Schweizerischer Berufsverband für Augenoptik und Optometrie.


RESULTS
307 questionnaires were analysed. Optometrists/opticians recommended glasses with a significantly smaller cycloplegic refraction value (p < 0.005) than did orthoptists and ophthalmologists. In the example of a 14-year-old asymptomatic child, ophthalmologists recommended glasses at + 2.64 [Dpt], orthoptists at + 2.44 [Dpt] and optometrists/opticians at + 1.32 [Dpt]. Optometrists/opticians tended to recommend slightly higher correction values in glasses than did ophthalmologists and orthoptists.


CONCLUSIONS
In Switzerland, optometrists/opticians recommend glasses with significantly smaller cycloplegic refraction values than do orthoptists and ophthalmologists, regardless of age or symptoms described in these fictitious cases.
University of Zurich and Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (Chair: Prof. Klara Landau).
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Hagander
University of Zurich and Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (Chair: Prof. Klara Landau).
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Traber
University of Zurich and Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (Chair: Prof. Klara Landau).
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Landau
University of Zurich and Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (Chair: Prof. Klara Landau).
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Jaggi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005139:Eyeglasses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072163:Ophthalmologists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000072162:Optometrists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055656:Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology