Screening the vision of school-aged children: an interdisciplinary research approach.

The authors are registered nurses (RNs) and members of an Interdisciplinary Vision Screening Research Group investigating how best to screen children's vision, incorporating the assessment of binocular visual function. The aims of this pilot study were: to detect any visual skill problems of children in a Reception class (n = 28) using the Oyarzun Vision Screening Kit; to describe the behaviour of the children during the screening; to calculate the time taken to screen each child and to establish the interrater reliability (IRR) between the RNs and an optometrist. Thirteen of the children (46%) had at least one visual problem, necessitating follow-up assessment. Other results and research implications are also discussed.