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EYE SCREENING

The Lions Club members screened over 1200 children for vision problems at eleven New Jersey schools and day care centers. The children were screened for several common vision conditions using a state of the art vision screener. It works like a camera to identify problems in just a few seconds. The screener can detect:

• Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Hyperopia (farsightedness)
• Astigmatism (blurred vision)
• Anisometropia (unequal refractive power)
• Strabismus (eye misalignment)
• Anisocoria (unequal pupil size).

It generates referral reports without needing subjects to read an eye chart, or say what they see. Problems can be detected in preschool children as young as three years old. These conditions were identified in 11% of the children, whose parents received referral reports.

It is important to diagnose eye problems at an early age because often the conditions can be corrected then. After age seven, it is more likely the problem can be treated but not corrected.