Plea for early eye checks

An Auckland eye specialist says children should be tested for eye problems before they start school so that treatment has a greater chance of success.

Dr Carolyn Hope, a paediatric ophthalmologist at Auckland Hospital, has made a seven-year pilot study of children and said results varied significantly between children treated early for amblyopia (lazy eye) and those treated after they started school.

"It is a big problem in New Zealand, particularly in Auckland. There is not a structured pre-school screening programme. It becomes more structured at school and they have a very good coverage at school."

Dr Hope said failure to detect a lazy eye at an early and treatable age could lead to serious vision impairment, usually only in one eye.

It often shut the door on many career choices, such as the military, police and driving.

"It can be cured," Dr Hope said. "You can prevent permanent vision loss."

She said treatment for children with a lazy eye who were tested at 3 years of age had a success rate of more than 80 per cent. Among 5- or 6-year-old children, that success rate fell to about 50 per cent.

Dr Hope said it was hoped her South Auckland study would be enough to persuade the Ministry of Health to shift the emphasis on screening to 3-year-olds rather than 5- or 6-year-olds.

The compliance with treatment, which included eye patches, was far higher with the younger children.

"It is incredibly disruptive for children at school to wear patches because it interrupts their schoolwork and they don't like it.

"Young children are much more able to cope and their vision recovers more quickly.

"By the time they get to school they don't need to wear the patch because they are cured."

Dr Hope said a lazy eye was responsive to treatment, provided it was detected early.

"The outcomes are excellent. We have had extremely good response from young children because they wear their glasses and they wear their patches."

A lot of money was wasted screening older children because of the lack of compliance with the treatment.

It would cost very little to move the emphasis on screening to younger, pre-school children.

Dr Hope presented her findings to a conference of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists in Auckland this week.

She said she would make submissions to the ministry to have the screening age lowered to 3.

- NZPA