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Effectiveness of a photoscreener in identifying undiagnosed unilateral amblyopia at vision screening of 3-year-old children in Japan

  • Clinical Investigation
  • Published:
Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 09 April 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Purpose

In Japan a basic preparatory ophthalmic examination is routinely performed for 3-year-old children. This study aimed to determine the value of incorporating a photoscreener into the examination and evaluate parents’ satisfaction with the photoscreener examination.

Study design

Prospective study.

Methods

Children aged 42–47 months in Nagasaki City, Japan, underwent a visual acuity test by a parent at home and by automated vision screening using a photoscreener at their local municipal health center between October 2018 and March 2019. Subjects were children referred to Nagasaki University Hospital for examination after failing either test. Children previously diagnosed with strabismus and/or amblyopia were excluded. A questionnaire survey evaluated the level of satisfaction with the photoscreener-based screening by parents who attended these examinations at the local municipal health center.

Results

Of children who completed the two tests, 52 (failed visual acuity test, 3; failed photoscreener examination, 49) were referred for examination. Of the 49 photoscreener failures, 12 were diagnosed with amblyopia: unilateral amblyopia with anisometropic hyperopia in 10 (83.3%), and bilateral amblyopia with astigmatism and hyperopia in 2 (16.7%). The photoscreener detected all 12 cases of amblyopia, whereas the home-based visual acuity test detected only two cases. More than 80% of 1035 parents were satisfied with the photoscreener examination.

Conclusion

Unilateral amblyopia with anisometropic hyperopia was easily overlooked with the home-based test but was detectable by photoscreener examination. The photoscreener proved to be an effective screening tool for amblyopia in children and was considered a satisfactory examination by a high proportion of parents.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the community-based welfare section of Nagasaki City Government for their generous support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan

    Shiori Harada, Masafumi Uematsu, Yasser Helmy Mohamed & Takashi Kitaoka

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Nagasaki University Hospital, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan

    Yumiko Nakashima & Hiroyuki Moriuchi

  3. Clinical Research Center, Nagasaki University Hospital, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan

    Shinpei Morimoto

Authors
  1. Shiori Harada
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  2. Yumiko Nakashima
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  4. Shinpei Morimoto
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  5. Yasser Helmy Mohamed
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  7. Hiroyuki Moriuchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masafumi Uematsu.

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S. Harada, None; Y. Nakashima, None; M. Uematsu, None; S. Morimoto, None; Y. H. Mohamed, None; T. Kitaoka, None; H. Moriuchi, None.

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Corresponding author: Masafumi Uematsu.

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Harada, S., Nakashima, Y., Uematsu, M. et al. Effectiveness of a photoscreener in identifying undiagnosed unilateral amblyopia at vision screening of 3-year-old children in Japan. Jpn J Ophthalmol 66, 193–198 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-021-00896-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-021-00896-8

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