Vision screening

Training teachers and parents to use simplified visual acuity screening tools has improved child eye care in underserved communities around Delhi and Haryana in India, Reena Sethi MD told the 3rd World Congress of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus in Barcelona, 2015. For three years the programme has successfully screened virtually all children at more than 30 schools in both urban and rural areas for refractive errors, cataracts, glaucoma and other eye-related ailments, said Dr Sethi, director of Arunodaya Charitable Trust. During that time undiagnosed refractive errors of 20/30 or worse were discovered in 11 per cent of students, prescription changes were needed in 40 per cent of those with treated refractive errors, and amblyopia was diagnosed in 0.8 per cent. Diagnosing and correcting these errors at school, including providing medications and glasses on site when possible, is helping reduce visual disability in India’s large at-risk youth population, which consists of 40 per cent of the total population and is estimated to include one-fifth of blind children in the world, Dr Sethi said. RAISING AWARENESS The programme begins with one day of training for teachers and interested parents in using a simplified “tumbling E” screening card, holding it 20 feet away and asking children to indicate the direction each “E” faces. Failing indicates a significant refractive error or other eye conditions may exist, and these children are referred for further examination to optometrists and ophthalmologists on-site on screening days. Teachers and parents are also counselled on spotting signs of vision problems in children. These include holding books very close when reading, squinting when reading or trying to see, using a finger to read, poor hand-eye coordination, closing or covering one eye, fatiguing quickly when reading or using eyes, rubbing eyes, matter in eyes, and complaints of headache, dizziness or nausea from motion. Training also includes educating children in preventive eye care, using handouts on proper hygiene and reporting any difficulty seeing. Community partners are also trained to assist professional eye care staff on school screening days, multiplying the effectiveness of available eye care resources, Dr Sethi said. Directly involving parents and teachers also raises awareness of how important early eye care is, Dr Sethi added. “Our youth are the future and this programme is an important medium to spread health education and propagate practices that secure the future. Early intervention at this age makes a large difference to society.” ends Reena Sethi: arunodayai@yahoo.com acteyecare@gmail.com

Tags: childrens' eye care