Results of photorefractometric screening for amblyogenic defects in children aged 20 months

This report evaluates the validity of a preventive programme in a population which underwent refractometric screening at the ages of 20 months and 4 years. In 1987, 1,046 children born in 1985 in the territory of the Veneto National Health Unit No. 19 were invited to undergo screening for amblyogenic factors such as meridional hyperopia≥+2.50 diopters (D), myopia≤−2.50 D, anisometropia≥2D, opacity of the dioptric media and strabismus. The test method was non-cycloplegic photorefractometry (PhR). Seven hundred and ninety-five children were tested (76%); positive cases underwent subsequent cycloplegic autorefractometry (AR) and corrective lenses were prescribed as necessary. In 1989, an eye test was performed on 653 children who had taken part in the previous PhR screening and on 350 similar children who had not: the test included evaluation of visual acuity, stereopsis and AR. An eye with a corrected visual acuity of