The Effectiveness of Photorefraction for the Screening of Amblyogenic Factors

ABSTRACT

It is the purpose of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of MTI photoscreener(using the eccentric photorefraction principle) by comparing the sensitivity and specificity between the refractive errors determined by MTI photoscreener and cycloplegic refraction in 5 to 6 year-old children in the kindergartens. Pass/fail screening data was determined by the two masked observers, and compared with the results of cycloplegic refraction. And, the statistical analysis was done. There was some differences in the sensitivity rate between the two examiners. Two cases of anisometropia and one media opacity were found by the two observers, respectively. The sensitivity rate was 70%, specificity rate 90%, overall correlation rate 87%, positive predictive value 52% and negative predictive value 95% in the combined results by the observer A and B. The results of our study suggest that MTI photoscreener may be a reliable mass-screening method of detecting amblyogenic factors(refractive error, etc) in the preschool children although the sensitivity rate is slightly variable.