Preschool Vision Screening for 3 to 6-Year Old Children in Korea.

Kim, Min Sup; Koo, Bon Sool

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2003;44(4):971-981.
Published online April 1, 2003.

Preschool Vision Screening for 3 to 6-Year Old Children in Korea.

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Sung-Ae General Hospital, Korea. eyecare11@korea.com
²Korean Foundation of Prevention of Blindness, Korea.

전국 만 3세-6세의 취학 전 아동에 대한 안과검진

김민섭 ( Min Sup Kim ) , 구본술 ( Bon Sool Koo ) , 김신자 ( Shin Ja Kim )

Abstract

PURPOSE
To inform the necessity of mass screening, we performed a mass screening for the detection of ocular disorders of preschool children. METHODS: Ocular examination was performed on 60, 827 children in Korea (3-6 years of age) during the period from March to October, 2000. The total of 3, 254 children were shown to have either visual acuity of less than 0.5 or anisometropia of over 2 lines. Detailed eye examination was conducted on those 3, 254 children. RESULTS: The numbers of first mass screening were 60, 826. Diagnosis consisted of refractive errors in 2, 216, amblyopia in 664, and strabismus in 235. Among the types of refractive errors, myopic astigmatism was the most common type (34.0%). Astigmatism was combined with all other types in 1, 659 children. Refractive error was the most common cause of amblyopia (88.0%) CONCLUSIONS: To prevent and treat amblyopia or strabismus, early detection and adequate care at preschool age seemed to be very effective. Participation rate for this mass-screening of eye disease during preschool age will be more increased by efforts of constiutional support and parental cooperation.

Key Words: Amblyopia;Preschool Eye Exam;Refractive error;Strabismus