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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jean E. Ramsey, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, 850 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02118, 617 414-4020, jean.ramsey@bmc.org, Bruce Moore, OD, Marcus Professor of Pediatric Studies, New England College of Optometry, 424 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02215, Anne H. Sheetz, RN, MPH, Director of School Health Services, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, and Thomas Comerford, MBA, School Health, Administrator, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108.

Children entering school need to be healthy and ready to learn. Preschool vision screening allows for the identification of children who may benefit from interventions such as spectacle wear. It also identifies children with amblyopia, a form of visual loss due to of a developmental disturbance, which affects 2-5% of the population. Amblyopia if detected and treated early is reversible in nearly all cases. If not detected and treated early, it leads to permanent visual loss. Studies show poor rates of effective preschool vision screening in the United States. In July 2004, after nearly a decade of advocacy by ophthalmologists, optometrists, and others interested in vision health, a legislative mandate was established requiring that all preschoolers receive a vision screening within 12 months PRIOR to entering kindergarten. In addition, children who do not pass the vision screening, and children with neuro-developmental delay are required to show proof of having received a comprehensive eye exam with appropriate follow up. This session will describe the rationale for preschool vision screening along with strategies to implement a state-wide preschool vision screening program. A variety of evidence-based preschool vision screening methodologies will be presented. Discussion will also include the challenges involved in developing such a program and the need for close collaboration between eye professionals, primary care health providers, and state agencies responsible for implementation. Initial baseline data describing the pre-legislative status of Massachusetts preschool vision screening within the medical home will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the critical need to provide vision screening at an early age when treatment is most effective
• Describe the advocacy efforts, statutory basis, and strategies for developing population-based vision screening of the preschool population in Massachusetts
• Develop an evidence-based preschool vision screening protocol

Keywords: Screening, Legislative

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation