Comments on: when are children prescribed glasses

By: rajneesh sen

rajneesh sen — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:48:01 +0000

its very good gor all the optometrist who working in field of paediatrics group

By: Ann Z

Ann Z — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:53:28 +0000

Hi Monika, the -1.25 is probably the refractive error, though I’ve never see that written with the /100. In any case, -1.25 is mild nearsightedness or myopia, which means that your baby sees better close up than far away. The other two numbers I believe describe the astigmatism, which is a very mild astigmatism. If you’re interested, there’s more information on reading a glasses prescription here: http://littlefoureyes.com/2010/01/25/understanding-your-childs-glasses-prescription/

By: Monika

Monika — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:13:44 +0000

Sir,
My 22 month baby has number. -1.25/100 & -0.25-0.5 what does this mean?

By: Ayen

Ayen — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:22:57 +0000

Very thoughtful post. This is is very helpful. There were always side effects in every thing, there are dark and light sides. It depends on you on how to balance it. Thanks for sharing this one. So thoughtful of you.

By: Ann Z

Ann Z — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:21:00 +0000

Thanks Bryan. While I was very upset when Zoe first got her glasses, I don’t see it as a pity that children are wearing glasses. While it means that they have vision problems that need correcting, it also means that their vision is at least in some way correctable, that it is they being treated, that they are seeing better now!

I should also mention that these are not my guidelines. They come from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:19:25 +0000

It is so pity to see children earing eyeglasses at a very young age. However, these guidelines of yours are magnificent! You’ve done a good research. Thank you for posting this one.

By: Ann Z

Ann Z — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:15:50 +0000

Thanks Rochelle and Dominick! Rochelle, I think it’s a good point that putting the information in a chart can make it seem far too simple for what really is a complicated decision.

Thank you both for all you do, too.

By: Rochelle Mozlin

Rochelle Mozlin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:23:58 +0000

Hi Ann,
I am also an optometrist and fellow of COVD (College of Optometrists in Vision Development).

If you go the AOA website and look at the Clinical Practice Guidelines,

http://www.aoa.org/x4813.xml

you will find some guidelines about prescribing for children. Its just not in one place in a handy dandy chart. Probably because putting it in a chart tends to oversimplify a complicated decision. I think its wonderful that you are discussing these concepts on your blog and getting the word out about how important it is to consider the role of vision in the life of our children!

By: Dominick M. Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A

Dominick M. Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:49:50 +0000

Ann….you are a most remarkable blogger! You do your research….and do it well. I have absolutely no complaints about your posts….and as you know you are listed on my blog as one of those that I pay attention to. I just wanted to make sure that your readers know that these are guidelines and may not apply to any individual’s specific needs. Thanks for making that clear in your post. Thanks for all you do to get the word out!

By: Ann Z

Ann Z — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:18:02 +0000

Thanks Dr. Maino. I absolutely agree that these need to be taken with a grain (or tablespoon) of salt, especially, as they note in the guidelines themselves, they’re based on individual practice, rather than scientific studies. I did try to emphasize that at the very beginning of this post, but I’ve updated it a bit more to make that more clear.

As an aside, I did try to find similar guidelines from the American Optometric Society but was unsuccessful. I did find a study that looked at when hospital optometrists prescribed glasses to children in Britain, and the thresholds were slightly less conservative, but not very different (and a little hard to compare, since that study didn’t differentiate between correction for hyperopia with strabismus and with no strabismus, it also didn’t break out anisometropic myopia). There is also the study I linked to that showed that in practice many ophthalmologists prescribe less conservatively than the guidelines. I did briefly try to pull together a comparison of all the different studies of when glasses are prescribed, but again, the age ranges, and conditions looked at were not consistent, and I couldn’t come up with a good way of showing all that information in an easy to understand way.