Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Illinois College of Optometry, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2022 Oct;66(10):782-792. doi: 10.1111/jir.12968. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
Special Olympics International (SOI) has provided eye assessments at no cost to athletes participating in competitions through the Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Foundation Opening Eyes (OE) programme. Access to vision services is crucial given the high rates of eye abnormalities found in studies collected at OE programmes in other countries. As of 2022, no studies covering vision data have been published on SOI athletes specifically from the USA. Therefore, this multiple cross-sectional study hopes to investigate the vision profile of US athletes over three national games, detecting any changes in vision and ocular health outcomes over an 8-year period.
Vision assessments were conducted in the US national games of 2010, 2014 and 2018. Demographic and clinical data from 1427 vision assessments were used in this study. Prevalence of vision and ocular health abnormalities were compared across national games.
In our cohort of 1427 assessments with athletes' mean age ± SD of 29.8 ± 11.5 years, 85.3% (n = 1170) had an abnormal vision result with at least one of the following findings: decreased visual acuity of 20/40 or worse (31.0%, n = 442), refractive error including myopia (52.8%, n = 754), hypermetropia (15.7%, n = 224), and astigmatism (35.0%, n = 499), ocular misalignment distant (16.2%, n = 224) or near (17.2%, n = 239), or ocular abnormality (19.1%, n = 273).
This study demonstrates the burden of vision defects and ocular disease in US SOI athletes over the past decade. While continued effort must be made to train eye providers in caring for patients with ID to increase eyecare accessibility outside of SOI, vision assessments at national games can continue providing opportunities for improved ocular health in children and adults with ID.
特殊奥林匹克国际组织（SOI）通过特殊奥林匹克狮子俱乐部国际基金会的“睁开眼睛”（OE）项目，为参加比赛的运动员提供免费的眼部评估。考虑到在其他国家的 OE 项目中收集的研究中发现的眼部异常率很高，获得视力服务至关重要。截至 2022 年，尚无针对来自美国的 SOI 运动员的专门研究涵盖视力数据。因此，这项多横断面研究希望调查美国运动员在三次全国比赛中的视力状况，以检测在 8 年期间视力和眼部健康结果的任何变化。
视力评估在美国 2010 年、2014 年和 2018 年的全国比赛中进行。本研究使用了 1427 次视力评估的人口统计学和临床数据。比较了全国比赛中视力和眼部健康异常的患病率。
在我们的 1427 次评估队列中，运动员的平均年龄为 29.8 ± 11.5 岁，其中 85.3%（n=1170）的视力结果异常，至少有以下一种发现：视力低于 20/40（31.0%，n=442）、屈光不正包括近视（52.8%，n=754）、远视（15.7%，n=224）和散光（35.0%，n=499）、远距（16.2%，n=224）或近距（17.2%，n=239）的眼球错位、或眼部异常（19.1%，n=273）。
本研究表明，在过去十年中，美国 SOI 运动员的视力缺陷和眼部疾病负担沉重。虽然必须继续努力培训眼科医生照顾智障患者，以提高 SOI 之外的眼保健可及性，但全国比赛中的视力评估可以继续为智障儿童和成人提供改善眼部健康的机会。
