EVALUATION OF PHOTOSCREENER INSTRUMENTS IN A CHILDHOOD POPULATION .1.OTAGO PHOTOSCREENER AND DORTMANS VIDEOPHOTOREFRACTOR

Objective: To evaluate two photoscreeners in a childhood population. S tudy design: Double-masked study. Subjects and method: One hundred and thirteen children aged between 11 and 44 months with either normal vi sion or known visual disorders were photoscreened without cycloplegia by the Otago and Dortmans (prototype) photoscreeners. Each child had a full ophthalmological examination either on the day of screening or i n the preceeding six months. Photoscreen images were reviewed by an in dependent observer for indicators of amblyopliogenic risk factors, and compared to the full ophthalmological examination to determine sensit ivity and specificity for each instrument. Results: The Otago photoscr eener returned a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 82% for the det ection of amblyopiogenic risk factors. The Dortmans photoscreener retu rned a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 90%. Both photoscreeners were portable and easily operated. Conclusion: Children can be screene d successfully for amblyopiogenic risk factors with these photoscreeni ng systems. Further evaluation is required to determine specificity in a normal population. This would also provide information on the poten tial usefulness of photoscreeners in a cost effective childhood vision screening program.