Recommendations

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that infants and children be screened as follows:

1. A pediatrician or family physician should examine a newborn’s eyes for general eye health in the nursery. An ophthalmologist should be asked to examine all high risk infants, i.e., those at risk to develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), those with a family history of retinoblastoma, congenital glaucoma, cataracts, or diseases associated with eye problems, or when any opacity of the ocular media or nystagmus (purposeless rhythmic movement of the eyes) is seen. Examination of these infants should be repeated at appropriate intervals. No infant is too young for an eye examination by an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmological examination should be performed whenever questions arise about the eye health of a child at any age.

2. All infants by six months of age should be screened for ocular health by a pediatrician, family physician or an ophthalmologist.

3. Each child at age approximately 3 1/2 should be screened for eye health by a pediatrician, family physician, or an ophthalmologist. Emphasis should be placed on testing of visual acuity.

4. Children at age 5 years should have vision evaluated and alignment assessed by a pediatrician, family physician, or an ophthalmologist. Those children who fail either test should be examined by an ophthalmologist.

5. Further screening examinations should be done at routine school checks or after the appearance of symptoms. Routine professional eye examination of the normal child has no medical benefit.

Most serious ocular conditions, which can be found at screening and are treatable, are identified in the preschool years. Many of these conditions are associated with a positive family history. Screening emphasis should, therefore, be directed to at risk infants and to those children in the early preschool years.