Visual acuity screening of preterm infants.

Visual acuity was screened in 36 healthy infants born 4 or more weeks prior to term. Preterm infants tested at 8 and 12 weeks of postnatal age showed significantly poorer performances than those shown by 8- and 12-week-old full-term infants. However, no differences in performance were found when the scores of preterm infants tested at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of postterm age (i.e., 4, 8, and 12 weeks from due date) were compared with scores of 4-, 8-, and 12-week-old full-term infants. The results suggest that visual acuity is more closely correlated with age from conception than with age from birth and that visual acuity screening in preterm infants should be carried out with acuity gratings appropriate for the infant's postterm age rather than with acuity gratings appropriate for the infant's postnatal age.

[1]  R. Boothe,et al.  Visual acuity development in infant monkeys (Macaca nemestrina) having known gestational ages , 1981, Vision Research.

[2]  J. Fagan,et al.  Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months. , 1975, Child development.

[3]  S. Sokol.  36 – Patterned Elicited ERGs and VECPs in Amblyopia and Infant Vision1 , 1978 .

[4]  M. Sigman,et al.  Visual preferences of four-month-old premature and full-term infants. , 1974, Child development.

[5]  D. Teller,et al.  Visual acuity for vertical and diagonal gratings in human infants. , 1974, Vision research.

[6]  D. Teller.  The forced-choice preferential looking procedure: A psychophysical technique for use with human infants. , 1979 .

[7]  V. Jones-Molfese.  Individual differences in neonatal preferences for planometric and stereometric visual patterns. , 1972, Child development.

[8]  A. Fulton,et al.  Infant vision testing by a behavioral method. , 1979, Ophthalmology.

[9]  H. Fledelius.  Prematurity and the eye. Ophthalmic 10-year follow-up of children of low and normal birth weight. , 1976, Acta ophthalmologica. Supplementum.

[10]  V. Jones-Molfese.  Individual differences in neonatal preferences for planometric and stereometric visual patterns. , 1972, Child Development.

[11]  D. Teller,et al.  A behavioral method for efficient screening of visual acuity in young infants. I. Preliminary laboratory development. , 1978, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[12]  S. Sokol,et al.  Implicit time of pattern evoked potentials in infants: An index of maturation of spatial vision , 1979, Vision Research.

[13]  J. Fagan,et al.  Chapter 4 – Early Visual Selectivity: As a Function of Pattern Variables, Previous Exposure, Age from Birth and Conception, and Expected Cognitive Deficit , 1975 .

[14]  M. Sigman,et al.  Early Development of Preterm and Full-Term Infants: Exploratory Behavior in Eight-Month-Olds , 1976 .

[15]  A. Fulton,et al.  A behavioral method for efficient screening of visual acuity in young infants. II. Clinical application. , 1978, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[16]  B. Karmel.  Chapter 2 – A Neuronal Activity Model for Infant Visual Attention1 , 1975 .

[17]  Bernice W. Polemis.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 1959 .

[18]  S B Miranda,et al.  Visual abilities and pattern preferences of premature infants and full-term neonates. , 1970, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[19]  R. D. Kiff,et al.  Visual response of premature infants. Use of the optokinetic nystagmus to estimate visual development. , 1966, Archives of ophthalmology.