Research

Results from A Pediatric Vision Screening and Its Ability to Predict Academic Performance

  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of pediatric vision screening to predict academic performance of children in New York City of USA.

  • This was a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study conducted in a sample of 1 365 children attending grades K – 6 (5 to 12 years).

  • The phi coefficient was used to measure the impact of pediatric vision screening on children academic performance.

  • The King Devick test had an overall phi coefficient of 0.47, and hyperopia test had a phi coefficient of 0.31.

  • Of 39 children examined, 25 received optometric intervention, 19 received spectacle corrections, 5 received spectacle corrections and vision therapy while 1 received vision therapy without correction.

  • Among 21 of the 25 (84%) children, there was at least a 20 percentage-point increase in the child’s achievement test percentile rank.

  • 1 child who was uncorrected 4 D bilateral hyperopia had percentile rank increased from 9% in 1996-1997 to 75% in 1998-1999.

  • 14 of the 21 children who showed improvement had failed the King Devick in 1996-1997 and passed it in 2 years later.

  • 3 of 4 children who did not show improvement failed the King Devick in 1996-1997, and still failed in 1998-1999.

  • The study demonstrated the importance of optometric intervention in enhancing effective learning among children.

This article was identified as a reference for a VII-commissioned systematic review on the Impact of URE on Children.

Publication date

December 7, 2016

Publication

Optometry

Authors

Krumholtz, I.
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