Improving Quality Vision Outcomes in Managed Care Setting While Reducing Cost by Use of Accurate, Automated Screening

Amblyopia and Strabismus Testing in Pediatrics

Amblyopia ("lazy eye") and strabismus (misaligned eyes) are medical eye conditions that combine as the leading causes of preventable vision loss in children. They are irreversible if not detected and corrected by the age of seven, however half of all cases are missed because the conditions do not always manifest themselves and pediatricians are unable to reliably detect the conditions. The current health care system badly needs an accurate and effective approach toward detecting amblyopia and strabismus in preschool children.

The study will be conducted in busy, ethnically and racially diverse primary care sites operated by the Kaiser Permanente system and compare the outcomes of testing with a Pediatric Vision Scanner with outcomes the current standard of care.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Strabismus; Amblyopia
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Pediatric Vision Scanning device; Other: Reference examination

Detailed Description

After demonstrating feasibility, we will recruit 300 clinical trial participants during previously scheduled visits at two Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (KPSC) pediatric clinics. We will also send letters and placed phone calls to parents of eligible children who lived in cities proximal to the two clinics. Children will be considered eligible if age is ≥ 2 years old, less than 6 years old; have never visited an ophthalmologist (as this could indicate a pre-existing eye condition and/or introduce biased eye exam results if the physician had seen the patient before), are an active Kaiser Permanente member, and do not have a cognitive and/or developmental disability (ICD-10 codes Z82.79 and F84.0).

Interested participants will either visit an on-site ophthalmology clinic immediately following their pediatric visit or make a future appointment at one of two KPSC ophthalmology clinics. All study activities will be completed during one appointment. Research staff describe the study to parents and obtain informed consent, collected parent-reported demographic data about each participant, screen each participant using the PVS, and documented PVS results, test acquisition time, and participant cooperation. Testing will be performed in a dimly lit room with the child seated on a chair or parents lap. Per manufacturer recommendations, a background calibration measurement is first obtained off of the face with closed eyes. Then the child is asked to open both eyes and fixate on the smiley face target within the device while the binocular retinal polarization scan is performed. PVS results will be interpreted as either "pass" or "refer" based on manufacturer recommendations. Acquisition time is defined as time from when the research staff picked up the PVS to when the result is generated, and cooperation is defined as "excellent" or "fair" based on staff discretion (e.g., a patient who listens to instructions and completes the exam on the first try would be "excellent," whereas a patient who moves his/her head around during testing would be "fair"). A pediatric ophthalmologist masked to the PVS result then performs a gold standard eye examination. Possible gold standard examination results were "normal", "normal with risk factors" (Table Amblyopia Risk Factors - see protocol), "suspected binocular vision deficit," "suspected amblyopia," "amblyopia, "strabismus" and "amblyopia and strabismus." (Diagnostic Categories Rubric - see protocol). Results were mutually exclusive. To compare the PVS results to the gold standard eye examination among the 300 children eligible for analysis, we will perform a validation characteristics analysis with a 95% confidence interval (CI).

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 318

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • La Palma, California, United States, 90623
      • Southern California Permanente Group

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 2 years to 10 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Children aged 2-5 who present themselves to the pediatric clinic for well-visits.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Between the ages of 8-10, presenting for a well-visit (for enrollment for first primary outcome)
• Between the ages of 2-5, presenting for a well-visit (for enrollment for second primary outcome)

Exclusion Criteria:

• No developmental delay or cognitive deficit
• No visually obvious ocular conditions that would warrant specialist referral

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

PVS Screening and reference examination; All enrolled participants will be screened with the Pediatric Vision Scanner (PVS screening) during a well-child visit to compare whether the results of the PVS match the results of the regular eye examination performed during the well-visit. They will then receive a reference examination performed by a fellowship-trained pediatric ophthalmologist. Results will be compared with PVS screening results.

Device: Pediatric Vision Scanning device; The Pediatric Vision Scanner (PVS) performs a 3-second, non-invasive scan of both eyes simultaneously while a child looks at a single target. The scan will measure the frequency of the light waves that reflect off of the participants' eyes to determine the fixation state of the eye.; Other: Reference examination; Reference examination of the eyes will be performed by a fellowship-trained pediatric ophthalmologist.; Other Names: Gold-standard eye exam

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Detection of Amblyopia and Strabismus in Children Ages 2-5 Using Automated Pediatric Vision Scanner Device	Screening device will provide a binocularity score from 0-100. Scores ≥60 indicate "normal" exams, while scores <60 are "refers" for amblyopia and strabismus. Device results will be compared to the gold standard eye examination performed by a pediatric ophthalmologist.	Screenings will be performed during a normally scheduled well-child visit, which lasts on average 20 minutes. Eye examinations for "refer" screenings will occur immediately after well-child visit.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Rebiscan, Inc.
• Collaborators: Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ashish Mehta, MD, Kaiser Permanente

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 24, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 27, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): September 1, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 1, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2020
• Last Verified: June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Eye Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Cranial Nerve Diseases; Sensation Disorders; Ocular Motility Disorders; Vision Disorders; Strabismus; Amblyopia
• Other Study ID Numbers: R44EY025926 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data will not be shared; cumulative results from the study may be presented in research journals and/or society conferences.