Home  About us  Contact
 

Vision Problems (vision + problem)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Optometric Management of Learning-Related Vision Problems, 2nd edition

CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL OPTOMETRY, Issue 6 2006
Article first published online: 6 OCT 200
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Does the School Nurse-to-Student Ratio Make a Difference?

JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 1 2004
Martha Guttu
ABSTRACT: Public schools must provide an appropriate education for students with complex health needs. Chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes, social morbidities, injuries, and conditions that limit learning such as poor vision commonly affect school-aged children. School nurses often assume a leadership role in providing services for these children. However, although a national standard for school nurse/student ratio has been proposed, little research has examined the relationship between different school nurse-to-student ratios, level of health services provided in schools, and student outcomes. This study examined data in a 21-county region in eastern North Carolina served by a regional school nurse consultant. The school nurse-to-student ratio in these counties ranged from 1:451 to 1:7,440 based on full-time equivalencies. Two systems offered no school nursing services.*** Data from school years ending in 2000,2002 were considered in the analysis. A significant correlation was found between the increased presence of school nurses and services provided to children with diabetes (r = ,.52, p = .000) and asthma (r = ,.43, p = .002). Schools with better ratios provided more counseling services to children for social conditions such as depression and unintended pregnancy (r = ,.38, p = .006), and more follow-up for school-related injuries (r = ,.43, p = .003), and a higher percentage of children with vision problems received follow-up care (r = ,.37, p = .007). A case analysis of one school district that experienced a significant improvement in nurse/student ratio over the study period provides further evidence that school nurses make a difference. [source]

Comorbidity of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence with Medical Conditions in 2 American Indian Reservation Communities

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2006
Jay H. Shore
Background: The objective was to examine the association of self-reported Diagnostic and Statistical Manual,IV edition alcohol abuse and dependence with medical conditions among American Indians (AIs). Methods: We analyzed data previously collected in a large epidemiological study of members of 2 culturally distinct AI tribes from the Southwest (SW; n=1,446) and the Northern Plains (NP; n=1,638) living on or near their reservations. Associations of combined self-reported alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence with 19 medical conditions were examined through multinomial logistic regression. Results: Medical conditions that had significant relationships with alcohol abuse/dependence were sprains and strains [odds ratio (OR) 2.04, p<0.001], hearing and vision problems (OR 2.05, p<0.001), kidney and bladder problems (OR 1.55, p<0.01), head injuries (OR 2.20, p<0.001), pneumonia/tuberculosis (OR 1.49, p<0.01), dental problems (OR 1.89, p<0.001), and liver problems/pancreatitis (OR 2.18, p<0.001). The total count of medical conditions was also significantly related to alcohol abuse/dependence, with a higher count being associated with the outcome (OR 1.17, p<0.001). Conclusions: In this community-based study of rural AIs, diverse medical conditions were associated with alcohol abuse and dependence. Further research should examine, and confirm, the nature, extent, and tribal variation of the medical consequences of alcohol abuse and dependence in these unique populations. [source]

Referral rates for a functional vision screening among a large cosmopolitan sample of Australian children

OPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS, Issue 1 2002
Barbara Junghans
The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of functional vision problems in a large unselected cosmopolitan population of primary school-age children and to investigate whether constant clinical criteria for functional vision problems would be implemented by the practitioners involved in the screening. Refractive errors, near point of convergence, stereopsis, strabismus, heterophoria and accommodative facility were assessed for 2697 children (3,12 years) of varying racial backgrounds living in Australia. The spherical component of the refractive error ranged from ,7.75 to +9.50 D (mean +0.54 D, ±0.79) with a distribution skewed towards hypermetropia; astigmatism ranged from 0 to 4.25 D (mean ,0.16 D, ±0.35). There was a trend towards less hypermetropia and slightly more astigmatism with age. Mean near point of convergence was 5.4 ± 2.9 cm, heterophoria at far and near was 0.12 ± 1.58, exophoria and 1.05 ± 2.53, exophoria, respectively, 0.55% of children exhibited vertical phoria at near >0.5,, accommodative facility ranged from 0 to 24 cycles per minute (cpm) (mean 11.2 cpm, ±3.7), stereopsis varied from 20 to 800 s (,,) of arc with 50% of children having 40,, or better. The prevalence of strabismus was particularly low (0.3%). Twenty percent of the children were referred for further assessment based on criteria of one or more of: stereopsis >70,,, accommodative facility <8 cpm, near point of convergence (NPC) >9 cm, near exophoria >10, or near esophoria >5,, shift in eso or exophoria , 4, between distance and near, astigmatism , 1 D, myopia more than ,0.75 D, or hyperopia >+1.50 D. Post-hoc analysis of the record cards seeking the reason for further assessment indicates that referrals appear to have been based upon clinical intuition rather than on a set number of borderline or unsatisfactory results. [source]

Tapetoretinal degenerations: Experiences, experiments and expectations

ACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 3 2000
Berndt Ehinger
ABSTRACT. Tapetoretinal degenerations are a common cause for vision problems, but have until recently not been amenable to rational treatment. With rapidly increasing insights into basic neurobiology and pathobiology this has now begun to change. From having been a relatively small group of largely unknown yet fairly prevalent disorders, they are rapidly forming a large set of well defined diseases, and it is easy to predict that our knowledge about them will continue to increase for many years to come. Vitamin A (15 ,000 IU daily) is currently the only rational treatment available. However, in experimental animals, therapy strategies are now actively being developed along several different lines. Apoptotic photoreceptor cell death can be delayed with different drugs, and at least one of them, diltiazem, is approved for human use in cardiovascular diseases. It remains to be seen if it has any clinically significant effect in human tapetoretinal degenerations. Other strategies aim at counteracting the production of harmful protein variants, acting either on DNA or mRNA levels. Transgenes can also be used to induce the production of important but missing metabolic components. Finally, cells or retina sheets can be transplanted, either to replace failing cells or as a source for missing trophic factors. Neither of these strategies has yet been transferred to humans, but trials are under way. With the high increase in the flow of new information on tapetoretinal disorders, much more precise diagnoses and much improved treatments are soon to be expected, augmenting considerably the possibilities for ophthalmologists to help patients with such diseases. It is not likely that there will be a single treatment for all the many varieties. Instead, we are most likely going to see pharmacological treatments for some of them, DNA transfers for some, and transplantations for others. [source]