Preschool Vision Screening in Korea: Results in 2003.

Choi, Kye Won; Koo, Bon Sool; Lee, Hae Young

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2006;47(1):112-120.
Published online January 31, 2006.

Preschool Vision Screening in Korea: Results in 2003.

Kye Won Choi, Bon Sool Koo, Hae Young Lee

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul Adventist Hospital, Seoul, Korea. forsety@naver.com
²Korean Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness, Seoul, Korea.

2003년 한국 취학전 아동 시력검진결과

최계원¹,구본술²,이해영¹

Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul Adventist Hospital¹, Seoul, Korea Korean Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness², Seoul, Korea

Correspondence: Kye Won Choi, M.D.¹

Abstract

PURPOSE
To report the results of preschool vision screening in South Korea in 2003. METHODS: Nation wide, population-based vision screening tests were conducted in preschool children over the age of 3 years from March to September 2003. The first step involved home-screening using picture cards. The children who did not pass the first test were sent to public health care centers, where their visual acuity was re-tested. After the re-tests, some children were referred to ophthalmologists. The referral criteria for visual acuity were: age 3, less than 0.5 visual acuity; age 4 or older, less than 0.63 visual acuity in at least one eye. RESULTS: Among 56,836 subjects who had been enrolled, 2,637 (4.6%) children were referred to ophthalmologists. Refractive error was found in 1,746 (66.2%) children. Amblyopia was discovered in 480 (18.2%) children. Anterior segment abnormalities were detected in 269 (10.2%) children, manifest strabismus was detected in 169 (6.4%) children, and fundus abnormalities were found in 17 (0.6%) children. Myopic astigmatism (31.0%) was the most common type of refractive error. Refractive error (87.9%) was the most common cause of amblyopia and exodeviation (63.9%) was the most common type of strabismus. CONCLUSIONS: From the results of the 2003 Preschool Vision Screening, we collected data about the ophthalmic abnormalities that can affect visual development in children. This information will foster improvement in the overall quality and design of preschool vision screening systems.

Key Words: Amblyopia;Preschool vision screening;Refractive error