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Abstract

Literature regarding the vision care needs of school children indicates that a variety of visual anomalies occur in sufficient numbers among children to warrant recommendation of a comprehensive school vision screening programme. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the referral efficacy (accuracy) of the Keystone Telebinocular (KTT), the Modified Telebinocular (MTT), and the Snellen against a standard optometric exam. Sixty children, aged 6-0 to 9-11, who had scheduled appointments with one of five optometrists in Coquitlam, Surrey, and White Rock, British Columbia, were administered the three screening measures, a letter identification test, and a standard optometric examination. Subjects' performance on each screening measure was compared to their performance on the standard optometric exam and categorized as a positive referral, a negative referral, an overreferral, or an underreferral. Chi-square and phi coefficient analyses were used to make the following comparisions: 1) the referral efficacy of the MTT versus that of the KTT, 2) the referral efficacy of the MTT versus that of the Snellen, 3) the referral efficacy of the KTT versus that of the Snellen. The MTT had greater efficacy than the Snellen for positive referrals (X² ( 1 ) = 7 . 000 , p