Pre-School Vision Screening Follow-Up Analysis For Monroe County, Michigan.

Background: The American Optometric Association estimates that up to 25% of schoolage
children have a vision problem. 1 In order to catch problems early to initiate early treatment, different vision screening programs have been developed across the nation. Michigan requires screenings on children from pre-school through 9th grade. This pilot study is the first attempt in the history of the 60 year old MDCH screening program to analyze the results of those screenings, including follow up data and diagnoses from the referred examinations. Methods: The Michigan College of Optometry collaborated with the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to obtain permission and access to look at the screening numbers. "Daily Report Sheets" from the sample population of pre-schoolers in Monroe County were analyzed. Results: Of 1115 children screened, 6.3% (n=70) screened positive for one or more test, and were referred to an eye care professional. Results were as follows: nearly 33% referred for acuity only, over 27% for a two line difference test, roughly 23% for a cover test, approximately 17% for some
combination oftests. Of those examined, 87% had a diagnosis from an eye care professional, and just about 69% ofthose examined were given some sort oftreatment.
Conclusions: Although the Michigan Department of Community Health does a comprehensive battery of testing, there is some question to the validity of some of the
tests in screening for vision problems. Without further information as to exact diagnoses
of the eye care professional, it is impossible to evaluate the specificity or sensitivity of the MDCH Screenings.