Vision screening in Maltese 3-year-old kindergarten children.

Abstract

This study is an analysis of a pilot vision screening programme of 3 year-old children in Maltese State kindergarten centres. All children, prior to be admitted in the kindergarten of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Kalkara, Paola, Tarxien and St Lucia (N=367). accompanied by their parents were medically examined by the School Health Team. During this visit children were offered to participate in a visual acuity. picture matching test. The screener tool used is The Tokyo Metropolitan Vision Screening Test which is well tested on thousands of children in Japan. Initially. 41 % accepted to participate in this vision screening test. It was found that there was a significant direct relationship between participation and the age of the child (p= 0.00129, correlation coefficient = +0.46) with maximal co-operation occurring after the child is 3 years 1 month of age. In addition, there was a significant relationship between participation and family social class (p=0.016, O.R.=2.0. C.L=l.1 to 3.7) and a significant relationship with the level the mother's education. defined as completion or otherwise of secondary schooling (p=0.04, O.R.=2.0. C.I. 1.0 to 3.8). The acceptance rate of the screening test rose to 960/(' ~hen this was attempted in the . classroom setting with the help of individual kindergarten assistants. Combining the data of the two screening attempts and estimating the false negative cases' from a sample (n= 13) sent for a complete clinical ophthalmic examination. the following are the screener characteristics; Specificity = 96%, Sensitivity = 1000/(', Positive Predictive Value = 56%, and Negative Predictive Value = 100%. The Yield, that is the number of identified cases that benefited by treatment as a result of this screening process, amounted to 5%. Recommendations: If vision screening is to be done on 3-year-old children. 1. The screening test should be held in the classroom setting. 2. The kindergarten assistant preteaches children the matching concept 3. The child should be older than 3 years 1 month.