Children's visual acuity testing: A nationally representative study of prevalence and locations

Vision testing in children allows some eye problems to be detected early when they can be more easily corrected, which may foster development. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) currently recommends that all children receive visual acuity testing as part of a comprehensive screening at least once between 3 and 5 years of age. We will use data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, to study the prevalence of distance visual acuity testing and identify the locations where these tests most frequently occurred for US children aged 3 to 17 years. We will also ascertain whether the socioeconomic and demographic factors that are associated with the receipt of testing differ by place. This cross-sectional household telephone survey collected data for over 95,000 children nationally. To identify children who had their visual acuity tested, respondents for children aged 5 years and older were asked “During the past 2 years…has (child) had (his/her) vision tested with pictures, shapes, or letters?”; respondents for children less than 5 years old were asked if the children ever had their vision tested. If children were tested, respondents were then asked where the test(s) occurred (eye doctor's office, general doctor's office, clinic, school, or some other place). Analyses of these data will yield new information on the distribution of visual acuity testing across various settings.