Association of Sociodemographic Characteristics with Pediatric Vision Screening and Eye Care: An Analysis of the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health.

Purpose: Vision screening and regular eye care can help detect and treat potentially irreversible vision impairment. This study aims to investigate the associations between sociodemographic and health characteristics and the receipt of eye care among children aged 17 years and younger in the United States.

Design: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), a nationally representative and population-based survey of randomly sampled households.

Near-point Findings in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and in Typical Peers.

Significance: Clinicians can better diagnose and manage vision problems of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children by establishing a standard of care for this population. Results also reinforce the importance of a comprehensive binocular vision evaluation in all patients with ASD.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to compare near-point and ocular motility test findings in ASD children and typically developing (TD) peers and to compare findings among ASD children by level of verbal communication.

Vision Screening among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Significance: Vision problems occur at higher rates in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than in the general population. Some professional organizations recommend that children with neurodevelopmental disorders need comprehensive assessment by eye care professionals rather than vision screening.

Methods: Data from the 2011 to 2012 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) were accessed.

Eye examination testability in children with autism and in typical peers.

Purpose: To compare testability of vision and eye tests in an examination protocol of 9- to 17-year-old patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to typically developing (TD) peers.

Methods: In a prospective pilot study, 61 children and adolescents (34 with ASD and 27 who were TD) aged 9 to 17 years completed an eye examination protocol including tests of visual acuity, refraction, convergence (eye teaming), stereoacuity (depth perception), ocular motility, and ocular health. Patients who required new refractive correction were retested after wearing their updated spectacle prescription for 1 month.

Pediatric use of topical ophthalmic drugs.

Background: Changes in the policies of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have resulted in a rapid increase in the number of drugs now labeled for pediatric use. In topical ophthalmic drugs, there are pharmaceuticals approved for use in children in the treatment of allergy, inflammation, and bacterial and viral infection. Clinicians should anticipate that this trend will continue into the future.