Decreased Visual Acuity in Preschool Children

October’s Ophthalmology

A study by Friedman et al. of children aged 30 months through 71 months found that bilateral decreased visual acuity in Caucasian and African-American children was infrequent. They also found uncorrected ametropia to be the most common cause. The decreased visual acuity was not consistently associated with age, race or sex..........The researchers included 1,714 children out of the 2,546 in the 30-to-71-months age group of the Baltimore Pediatric Eye Disease Study. Decreased visual acuity was initially detected in 1.2 percent of Caucasian children and 1.8 percent of African-American children. After retesting within 60 days of the initial exam and with children wearing the best refractive correction, the rate of decreased visual acuity in both eyes was 0.5 percent among Caucasians and 1.1 percent among African-Americans.