Screening for anisometropia in preschool children

Ophthalmological findings in a sample of Swedish children aged 4-15 years

AIMS

To characterize ophthalmological findings in a sample of Swedish children aged 4-15 years.

METHODS

A prospective cross-sectional comprehensive ophthalmological investigation was performed on a sample of 143 children (67 girls, 76 boys) aged 4-15 years.

RESULTS

Visual acuity (VA) in the better eye >or=1.0 (<or=0.0 logMAR) was found in 79% of subjects. None of the children had VA in the better eye <0.5 (>0.3 logMAR). Amblyopia was found in 0.7% of subjects. A total of 68% of the children had no refractive errors. Hyperopia (>or=2.0 dioptres [D] in spherical equivalent [SE]) was found in 9% and myopia (>or=0.5 D SE) in 6% of children. Astigmatism (>or=0.75 D) was recorded in 22% and anisometropia (>or=1.0 D SE) in 3%. A total of 8% were optically corrected. Strabismus was recorded in 3.5%. Signs of visuoperceptual problems were reported in 3% of the children.

CONCLUSION

This sample of Swedish children may serve as a comparison group regarding ophthalmological findings in children aged 4-15 years.

A cost-effectiveness model of screening strategies for amblyopia and risk factors and its application in a german setting

PURPOSE

To develop a general setting-independent decision-analytical model that determines the costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of four screening strategies to detect amblyopia or amblyogenic factors in pre-school children and to apply the model in a German setting.

METHODS

The general setting-independent decision-analytical model was developed from the perspective of society and the statutory health insurance was developed. Outcomes were the total number of newly detected true positive cases of amblyopia and the costs per newly detected true positive case of amblyopia. Strategies were screening of high-risk children up to the age of 1 year (ophthalmologists), screening of all children up to the age of 1 year (ophthalmologists), screening of all children aged 3 to 4 years (pediatricians or general practitioners), and screening of children aged 3 to 4 years visiting kindergarten (orthoptists). For the application example in a German setting, data from the published medical literature were used.

RESULTS

In the base-case analysis of the application example, screening high-risk children by ophthalmologists had the lowest average cost per case detected but became dominated (less effective and more costly than an alternative) if a low (5.3%) probability of familial clustering of strabismus was assumed. Considering the various assumptions tested in the sensitivity analysis, screening of all children up to the age of 1 year by ophthalmologists was the only strategy not dominated by others. Detection rates, including cases detected before screening, were between 72% and 78% for the strategies that screen for all children.

CONCLUSIONS

The model suggests that in Germany, both from a cost-effectiveness and a pure effectiveness point of view, screening all children up to the age of 1 year by ophthalmologists is the preferred strategy to detect amblyopia or amblyogenic factors. All strategies left a significant portion of children undetected.