Bennett Katie P, Maloney Wendy
Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.
Can J Public Health. 2017 Nov 9;108(4):e421-e426. doi: 10.17269/cjph.108.6062.
Vision-screening programs are designed to detect common causes of visual impairment and increase the likelihood of early diagnosis and treatment. In the health authority Eastern Health - Newfoundland and Labrador, public health leaders raised a concern about the efficiency and effectiveness of the current non-routine, opportunistic vision screening protocol for school-aged children. An environmental scan of screening practices and programs across Canada was conducted, yielding a wide range of inconsistencies with respect to program type, target population, and screening tools. A significant gap in evidence-based research into universal vision-screening programs for the school-aged population (6+) was also noted. In light of these findings (both in practice and research), we recommend that researchers and public health practitioners across the country evaluate their current practice with respect to school-based vision screening and disseminate their findings through publication. We conclude that evaluation and research into current school-based screening programs (both opportunistic and universal) will provide the evidence needed to guide practice.
视力筛查项目旨在检测视力受损的常见原因，并提高早期诊断和治疗的可能性。在纽芬兰和拉布拉多省东部卫生局，公共卫生负责人对当前针对学龄儿童的非常规、机会性视力筛查方案的效率和效果表示担忧。对加拿大各地的筛查实践和项目进行了环境扫描，结果发现，在项目类型、目标人群和筛查工具方面存在广泛的不一致。还注意到，针对学龄人口（6岁以上）的普遍视力筛查项目的循证研究存在重大空白。鉴于这些实践和研究结果，我们建议全国的研究人员和公共卫生从业者评估他们目前在学校视力筛查方面的做法，并通过发表研究结果进行传播。我们得出结论，对当前基于学校的筛查项目（包括机会性筛查和普遍性筛查）进行评估和研究，将为指导实践提供所需的证据。
