May 2008
Volume 49, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   May 2008
Prevalence of Decreased Visual Acuity Among Preschool Aged Children in an American Urban Population: The Baltimore Pediatric Eye Disease Study
D. S. Friedman; M. X. Repka; J. Katz; L. Giordano; J. Ibironke; P. Hawse; D. Burkom; J. M. Tielsch
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • D. S. Friedman
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
    International Health,
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Publich Health, Baltimore, Maryland
  • M. X. Repka
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
  • J. Katz
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
    International Health,
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Publich Health, Baltimore, Maryland
  • L. Giordano
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
  • J. Ibironke
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
  • P. Hawse
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
  • D. Burkom
    Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Baltimore, Maryland
  • J. M. Tielsch
    Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
    Epidemiology,
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Publich Health, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  D.S. Friedman, None; M.X. Repka, None; J. Katz, None; L. Giordano, None; J. Ibironke, None; P. Hawse, None; D. Burkom, None; J.M. Tielsch, None.
  • Footnotes
    Support  NIH Grant EY-14483
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science May 2008, Vol.49, 1547. doi:
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      D. S. Friedman, M. X. Repka, J. Katz, L. Giordano, J. Ibironke, P. Hawse, D. Burkom, J. M. Tielsch; Prevalence of Decreased Visual Acuity Among Preschool Aged Children in an American Urban Population: The Baltimore Pediatric Eye Disease Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2008;49(13):1547.

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Abstract

Purpose: : To determine the age- and ethnicity-specific prevalence of decreased visual acuity (VA) in White and African-American preschool aged children.

Methods: : The Baltimore Pediatric Eye Disease Study is a population-based cross sectional evaluation of the prevalence of ocular disorders in children aged 6 through 71 months in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Among 4,132 children identified, 3,990 eligible children (97%) were enrolled and 2,546 children (62%) were examined. This report focuses on 1,714 of 2,546 examined children (67%) who were aged 30 through 71 months. Parents or guardians of eligible participants underwent an in-home interview and were scheduled for a comprehensive eye examination. The eye examination included optotype visual acuity in children aged 30 months and older at the initial exam, with protocol-specified retesting of children with visual acuity worse than an age appropriate standard.

Results: : VA was testable in 1,504 of 1,714 children (87.7%) 30 through 71 months of age. It was decreased at the initial test (wearing glasses if brought to the clinic) in both eyes of 7 of 577 White children (1.21%, 95% CI = 0.49, 2.50) and 13 of 725 African-American children (1.79%, 95% CI = 0.95, 3.08). Decreased VA in both eyes after retesting was found in 3 of 594 White children (0.51%, 95% CI = 0.10, 1.48) and 8 of 753 African-American children (1.06%, 95% CI = 0.45, 2.10). Uncorrected ametropia was the most common cause of bilateral decreased presenting VA accounting for approximately half the cases of decreased visual acuity on initial testing.

Conclusions: : Decreased VA in both eyes of children 30 through71 months of age at presentation in urban Baltimore was 1.2% among White children and 1.8% among African-American children. After re-testing within 60 days of the initial exam and while wearing best refractive correction, the rate of decreased VA in both eyes was 0.5% among Whites and 1.1% among African-Americans.

Keywords: visual acuity • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment 
© 2008, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
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