Purpose: To evaluate children in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan to better understand the prevalence of ocular pathology and to compare two photoscreening devices to evaluate their utility.
Methods: Families at the Syrian American Medical Society Clinic were offered vision screening for children aged 1 to 18 years. Participants were offered visual acuity measurement and photoscreening with two devices approved for use in the United States. If visual acuity in either eye was worse than 20/40 or either photoscreening device indicated possible pathology, a complete eye examination was performed with cycloplegic refraction and dilated examination.
Results: Ninety-one participants completed the screening protocol. The average age of participants who completed the study was 7.8 years (range: 1 to 16 years). Twenty-eight participants (30.8%) failed at least one screening component. In this population, the following pathology was identified: astigmatism (12.1%), esotropia (9.9%), amblyopia (9.9%), hyperopia (7.7%), exotropia (3.3%), and myopia (1.1%). The Plusoptix vision screener (Plusoptix) had a sensitivity of 100% for the identification of amblyopia and 85% specificity. The GoCheck Kids application (Gobiquity) had a sensitivity of 66.67% for the identification of amblyopia and 94% specificity. The positive predictive value for the Plusoptix vision screener and the GoCheck Kids application for the detection of amblyopia risk factors was 77% for both.
Conclusions: The high rate of ophthalmic pathology identified in this study reinforces the urgent need for proper vision screening and intervention in this population. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2021;58(6):396-400.].