ABSTRACT

Background: In 1983, in Rijeka, Croatia, an ophthalmologic screening card was introduced for the detection and prevention of ophthalmologic diseases, including amblyopia and strabismus, in children. The card was attached to the vaccination card. The main goal of this study was to investigate whether this model of screening decreased the age at which children were first admitted to our Department of Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology.

Methods: We randomly selected 100 of the 225 children who underwent examination for the first time in the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus of a clinical hospital centre in Rijeka in 1980, and 100 of the 412 examined for the first time in 1990. Only children aged 5 years or less who were born in the maternity hospital in Rijeka were included in the study. We reviewed the records for these groups, noting the sex, age, diagnosis, refraction and visual acuity.

Results: The average age of the children examined in 1980 was 4.4 (standard deviation 1.4) years, compared with 2.5 (standard deviation 1.2) years in 1990, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01, Student's t-test). In 1980, 17% of the children were under 3 years, compared with 80% in 1990 (p << 0.01).

Interpretation: The ophthalmologic screening card contributed to reducing the age at which strabismus and amblyopia are detected. This method of detection has been applied to the entire child population, and detection is performed continuously.