Comparison of visual acuity measurements via three different methods in preschool children: Lea symbols, crowded Lea symbols, Snellen E chart

• Published in: International ophthalmology 2018-08, Vol.38 (4), p.1385-1391
• Main Authors: Inal, Asli, Ocak, Osman Bulut, Aygit, Ebru Demet, Yilmaz, Ihsan, Inal, Berkay, Taskapili, Muhittin, Gokyigit, Birsen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acuity; Amblyopia - diagnosis; Amblyopia - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Comparative studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Eye; Eye (anatomy); Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Iron; Male; Males; Measurement methods; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Ophthalmology; Original Paper; Patients; Preschool children; Refraction, Ocular - physiology; Refractive Errors - diagnosis; Refractive Errors - physiopathology; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Statistical significance; Symbols; Time Factors; Vision Tests - methods; Visual Acuity
• ISSN: 0165-5701; 1573-2630
• DOI: 10.1007/s10792-017-0596-1

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare three different methods to measure visual acuity (VA) in healthy and amblyopic preschool children: a Snellen E chart (SE), a single Lea symbols (SLS), and a crowded Lea symbols (CLS). Methods Seventy-eight eyes of 54 patients (28 females, 26 males) were included in this cross-sectional, comparative study. The control group consisted of 30 healthy cases, and the amblyopic group consisted of 24 patients with amblyopia. Best-corrected VA (BCVA) measurements with SLS, CLS, and SE were compared in control eyes (CE), amblyopic eyes (AE), and fellow eyes (FE) separately. Results The mean age of the cohort was 5.7 ± 0.7 years (range 5–7 years). The mean refractive error was +1.02 ± 0.36 D (diopter, spherical equivalent) in CE, +5.59 ± 2.45 D in AE, and +3.96 ± 2.38 D in FE. The median BCVA (logMAR) was (in order of SLS, CLS, and SE) 0.00 [interquartile range (IQR) 0.10], 0.10 (IQR 0.10), 0.00 (IQR 0.10) in CE, 0.25 (IQR 0.33), 0.35 (IQR 0.30), 0.25 (IQR 0.38) in AE, and 0.10 (IQR 0.08), 0.10 (IQR 0.00), 0.10 (IQR 0.10) in FE. There was no statistically significant difference between the three methods in terms of the CE or FE ( p  > 0.05). In contrast, there was a statistically significant difference in AE ( p