PubMed · 1630790
Negative predictive value of a population-based preschool vision screening program.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Enhanced Vision Screening Program is a population-based vision screening program that has, at present, examined 59,782 children. Its main goal is to detect amblyopia, strabismus, and high refractive errors. An average of 11,910 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-year-old children are screened yearly. The current study determines the negative predictive value of the screening program: For a subject having passed the vision screening test, what is the probability of not having amblyopia, strabismus, or high refractive errors? METHODS: Of the 11,734 subjects who passed the vision screening, 200 were randomly chosen to undergo a strictly defined gold standard examination by an orthoptist and an ophthalmologist. RESULTS: Of the 200 randomly chosen subjects, 157 underwent the gold standard evaluation. The negative predictive value of the Enhanced Vision Screening Program was 97.6% for any potentially vision-threatening ocular condition. It was 98.7% if we considered only the visually significant ocular problems that the test was designed to detect. CONCLUSION: Because the negative predictive value of the Enhanced Vision Screening Program is not 100%, some children with amblyopia, strabismus, or refractive errors are missed. Occasionally, a rare, potentially vision-threatening condition may go undetected. Parents should be made aware of this when they receive the results of the vision screening.
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I De Becker, H J MacPherson, G R LaRoche, J Braunstein, R Cottle, L L McIntyre, V Kozousek. 1992. Negative predictive value of a population-based preschool vision screening program.. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0161-6420(92)31865-2
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