Measurement of Low Vision in Children and Infants

The authors evaluated a preferential looking technique (Teller acuity cards) and a set of gross behavioral indicators (visual function battery) for the ability to rank visually impaired children and infants on the basis of their visual function. Fourteen older children with a diagnosis of cicatricial retinopathy of prematurity who were capable of giving Snellen acuities and a group of 31 preverbal infants with decreased vision due to a variety of causes were tested. Teller acuity card and visual function battery findings were highly correlated with each other (and with Snellen acuities in the older group); however, the Teller acuity cards provided better discrimination in the moderately visually impaired range, whereas the visual function battery was better in the severely impaired range. It is concluded that, in children and infants, visual function over the entire spectrum of low vision can be characterized by using a combination of the Teller acuity cards and the visual function battery.