Risk factors of ophthalmic disorders in children with developmental delay.

PURPOSE: To identify diagnoses that increase the risk of ophthalmic disorders in developmentally delayed children.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study of 1126 Danish children with developmental delay (IQ <or= 80), aged 4-15 years [mean age 10 years 1 month; standard deviation (SD) 3 years 2 months; 702 boys, 424 girls]. Ophthalmological and paediatric data were obtained from 719 children. The relative risks (RRs) of ophthalmic disorders were calculated for low IQ, low birth weight, low gestational age, asphyxia, cerebral palsy (CP), epilepsy, neuroradiologically verified cerebral abnormalities, Down's syndrome and other genetic syndromes.

RESULTS

Adjusted RR showed that visual impairment was correlated to CP [RR 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-4.2], epilepsy (RR 2.5, 95% CI 1.5-4.2), verified cerebral changes (RR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.3) and Down's syndrome (RR 2.7, 95% CI 1.2-6.3). Adjusted RR showed that refractive errors were correlated to CP (RR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1) and Down's syndrome (RR 2.2, 95% CI 1.5-3.2). Adjusted RR showed that strabismus was correlated to cerebral changes (RR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2-2.5).

CONCLUSION

The RR of ophthalmic disorders in developmentally delayed children is increased if the child has CP, epilepsy, verified cerebral abnormalities or a genetic syndrome; referral for ophthalmological evaluation should be performed on suspicion of these conditions.