'We don't know nearly enough': an online survey exploring perspectives of specialists who support children with brain-based visual impairments.

Introduction: Children with brain-based visual impairments (some of whom have a diagnosis of Cerebral Visual Impairment, or 'CVI') represent a growing and underserved population within vision services. These children often have more complex needs than those with ocular visual impairments and benefit from specialist support from multiple disciplines. This study aimed to understand the perspectives of these specialists in terms of their goals, views on collaboration, and understanding of the term 'CVI'.

Flicker adaptation improves acuity for briefly presented stimuli by reducing crowding.

Adaptation to flickering/dynamic noise improves visual acuity for briefly presented stimuli (Arnold et al., 2016). Here, we investigate whether such adaptation operates directly on our ability to see detail or by changing fixational eye movements and pupil size or by reducing visual crowding.

Research about eye health and eye health services in Pacific Island Countries and Territories: a scoping review.

Background: We aimed to summarise the extent and nature of published research about eye health and eye health services in Pacific Island Countries and Territories since 1980.

Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, Global Health and Cochrane Library to identify publications about eye health and eye health services in 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories from 1 January 1980 to 26 January 2024. Study selection and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently.

Use of the CONSIDER statement by eye health researchers when conducting and reporting research involving Indigenous peoples: an online survey.

Background: Indigenous peoples experience worse eye health compared to non-Indigenous peoples. Service providers and researchers must avoid perpetuating this inequity. To help achieve this, researchers can use the CONSolIDated critERia for strengthening the reporting of health research involving Indigenous peoples (CONSIDER) statement.

Primary eye health services for older adults as a component of universal health coverage: a scoping review of evidence from high income countries.

Unlabelled: In pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for eye health, countries must strengthen services for older adults, who experience the highest prevalence of eye conditions. This scoping review narratively summarised (i) primary eye health services for older adults in eleven high-income countries/territories (from government websites), and (ii) the evidence that eye health services reduced vision impairment and/or provided UHC (access, quality, equity, or financial protection) (from a systematic literature search). We identified 76 services, commonly comprehensive eye examinations ± refractive error correction.

Investigating the health status of primary school children in Tonga: Lessons learnt and reflections on field work in the Pacific Islands.

Globally, the child health focus has been on reducing under-5-year mortality, with large populations in low-resource regions prioritised. Children in older age groups, particularly in less populated regions such as the Pacific, have received limited attention. Child health research in the Pacific region has been lacking, and research approaches for the region have historically been from Western biomedical paradigms.

Strategies and tools to aid the transition between paediatric and adult health services for young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: The transition from paediatric to adult healthcare comes with risk and vulnerability for young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and their carers. Deficits in health, social and disability systems and the fragmentation of services exacerbate problems during the transition period, leaving young people and their carers feeling disconnected with existing services. With advances in healthcare, the number of young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders requiring transition services is increasing.

Learning to see after early and extended blindness: A scoping review.

Purpose: If an individual has been blind since birth due to a treatable eye condition, ocular treatment is urgent. Even a brief period of visual deprivation can alter the development of the visual system. The goal of our structured scoping review was to understand how we might better support children with delayed access to ocular treatment for blinding conditions.

Motion adaptation improves acuity (but perceived size doesn't matter).

Recognition acuity-the minimum size of a high-contrast object that allows us to recognize it-is limited by optical and neural elements of the eye and by processing within the visual cortex. The perceived size of objects can be changed by motion-adaptation. Viewing receding or looming motion makes subsequently viewed stimuli appear to grow or shrink, respectively.

Visual impairment and its correction among Pacific youth in Aotearoa: findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study.

Aim: Childhood visual impairment has a life-long impact that, with early access to eyecare, is largely avoidable. We aimed to understand visual impairment and its correction among Pacific youth in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Method: The Pacific Islands Families Study is a birth cohort study that tracks an original sample of 1,398 Pacific children born at Middlemore Hospital (Auckland).

Interventions to promote access to eyecare for non-dominant ethnic groups in high-income countries: a scoping review.

Purpose: People who are distinct from the dominant ethnic group within a country can experience a variety of barriers to accessing eyecare services. We conducted a scoping review to map published interventions aimed at improving access to eyecare for non-Indigenous, non-dominant ethnic groups residing in high-income countries.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase and Global Health for studies that described an intervention to promote access to eyecare for the target population.

Vision screening in New Zealand pre-school children: Is it equitable?

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the variability by ethnicity, socio-economic status and location in coverage and testability of the universal B4 School Check vision screening in children aged 4-5 years in New Zealand.

Methods: Aggregated data from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2015 were sourced from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure. Sourced data were attendance at vision screening and record of visual acuity measurement stratified by ethnicity, socio-economic status and region.

Eye care delivery models to improve access to eye care for Indigenous peoples in high-income countries: a scoping review.

Purpose: Globally, there are ~370 million Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples typically experience worse health compared with non-Indigenous people, including higher rates of avoidable vision impairment. Much of this gap in eye health can be attributed to barriers that impede access to eye care services.

Interventions to promote access to eye care for non-Indigenous, non-dominant ethnic groups in high-income countries: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: For many people, settling in a new country is associated with a new identity as an 'ethnic minority', one that can remain through future generations. People who are culturally distinct from the dominant population group may experience a variety of barriers to accessing healthcare, including linguistic and cultural barriers in communication, navigation of an unfamiliar health system and unconscious or overt discrimination. Here, we outline the protocol of a scoping review to identify, describe and summarise interventions aimed at improving access to eye care for non-Indigenous, non-dominant ethnic groups residing in high-income countries.

Evaluation of vision screening of 5-15-year-old children in three Tongan schools: comparison of The Auckland Optotypes and Lea symbols.

Background: Comprehensive vision screening programmes for children are an important part of public health strategy, but do not exist in many countries, including Tonga. This project set out to assess: (1) the functional vision of children attending primary schools in Tonga and (2) how a new recognition acuity test (The Auckland Optotypes displayed on a tablet computer) compares to use of a standardised eye chart in this setting.

Methods: Children from three Tongan primary schools were invited to participate.

Eye care delivery models to improve access to eye care for Indigenous people in high-income countries: protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Globally, there are an estimated 370 million Indigenous people across 90 countries. Indigenous people experience worse health compared with non-Indigenous people, including higher rates of avoidable visual impairment. Countries such as Australia and Canada have service delivery models aimed at improving access to eye care for Indigenous people.

Phenomenological approach to childhood cataract treatment in New Zealand using semi-structured interviews: how might we improve provision of care.

Purpose: To understand how we might improve the provision of medical care for children with cataracts.

Design: A phenomenological design was employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture rich descriptions of the phenomena.

Impact of Children's Postural Variation on Viewing Distance and Estimated Visual Acuity.

Purpose: Reliable estimation of visual acuity requires that observers maintain a constant distance from the target, but use of chin rests is not always feasible. Our aim was to quantify children's movement during community testing and its impact on near (40 cm) and intermediate (150 cm) acuity measures.

Methods: Thirty-three 7-year-old children performed several acuity tests run on a tablet computer, administered in the child's home by a trained lay screener.

Recognition acuity in children measured using The Auckland Optotypes.

Purpose: Sloan letters displayed by the Electronic Visual Acuity (EVA) system are the gold standard for recognition acuity measurement in research settings. However, letters are not always appropriate for children. The Auckland Optotypes (TAO) are a new, open-access set of 10 pictograms available in regular and vanishing formats.

A comparison of tests for quantifying sensory eye dominance.

Clinicians rely heavily on stereoacuity to measure binocular visual function, but stereo-vision represents only one aspect of binocularity. Lab-based tests of sensory eye dominance (SED) are commonplace, but have not been translated to wider clinical practice. Here we compare several methods of quantifying SED in a format suitable for clinical use.

The Auckland Optotypes: An open-access pictogram set for measuring recognition acuity.

When measuring recognition acuity in a research setting, the most widely used symbols are the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) set of 10 Sloan letters. However, the symbols are not appropriate for patients unfamiliar with letters, and acuity for individual letters is variable. Alternative pictogram sets are available, but are generally comprised of fewer items.

Contrast-balanced binocular treatment in children with deprivation amblyopia.

Background: Children with deprivation amblyopia due to childhood cataract have been excluded from much of the emerging research into amblyopia treatment. An investigation was conducted to determine whether contrast-balanced binocular treatment - a strategy currently being explored for children with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia - may be effective in children with deprivation amblyopia.

Methods: An unmasked, case-series design intended to assess proof of principle was employed.

Interocular suppression in children with deprivation amblyopia.

In patients with anisometropic or strabismic amblyopia, interocular suppression can be minimized by presenting high contrast stimulus elements to the amblyopic eye and lower contrast elements to the fellow eye. This suggests a structurally intact binocular visual system that is functionally suppressed. We investigated whether suppression can also be overcome by contrast balancing in children with deprivation amblyopia due to childhood cataracts.

Neurostructural abnormalities in pediatric anxiety disorders.

Functional neuroimaging studies have consistently demonstrated abnormalities in fear and threat processing systems in youth with anxiety disorders; however, the structural neuroanatomy of these systems in children and adolescents remains largely unknown. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), gray matter volumes were compared between 38 medication-free patients with anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder; social phobia; separation anxiety disorder, mean age: 14.4±3 years) and 27 comparison subjects (mean age: 14.

Aberrant amygdala functional connectivity at rest in pediatric anxiety disorders.

Background: Childhood onset of anxiety disorders is associated with greater functional impairment and burden across the lifespan. Recent work suggests that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by dysfunctional connectivity in amygdala-based circuits at rest in adolescents, consistent with adults. However, neural mechanisms underlying a broad spectrum of often-comorbid anxiety disorders in children remains unclear and understudied.