FREQUENCY OF COMMON OPHTHALMOLOGICAL ABNO RMALITIES AMONG PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN IN MEXICO-CITY

Objective. To estimate the prevalence of undetected vision abnormaliti es among preschool children. These problems can lead to a variety of a dverse consequences, the most serious being amblyopia, wich becomes ir reversible after the fifth year without treatment. In some other count ries there are screening programs to identify visual abnormalities amo ng four year old children. In our country there are no studies about t he prevalence of this problem among preschool children. Material and m ethods. A total of 39 preschool children were randomly selected from 9 3 kindergarten schools in a District of Mexico City. In total, 343 chi ldren were screened for ophthalmologic abnormalities by two pediatrici ans who were previously trained for this purpose. Results. Fifty-seven (16.6%) children failed the visual acuity testing: four had strabismu s, four cataract, and one glaucoma, and 48 refraction defects. Only 13 (3.8%) had been previously examined, ever. Conclusions. We consider t hat the prevalence found supports the recommendation to promote ophtha lmologic examining as part of the routinary child care practice and to preform preventive preschool screening.