PerspectivePrescribing Spectacles in Children: A Pediatric Ophthalmologist's ApproachDONAHUE, SEAN P. MD, PhDAuthor Information Departments of Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee Received October 7, 2006; accepted December 6, 2006. Optometry and Vision Science: February 2007 - Volume 84 - Issue 2 - p 110-114 doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318031b09b Buy Metrics Abstract The prescribing of spectacles for preschool children is very different from that for adults. Reasons for these differences include the inability to determine accurately a child's uncorrected and corrected visual acuity; as well as their lesser visual demands; their more proximal working distance; and their more plastic visual cortex, which places them at risk for amblyopia and strabismus. Most guidelines for spectacle treatment in such children are based upon clinical experience rather than randomized, masked clinical trials. Fortunately, the prescribing thresholds suggested by optometrists are quite similar to those suggested by pediatric ophthalmologists. © 2007 American Academy of Optometry
