Vision Survey Among a Group of Pupils of Syracuse Schools

Abstract

THE care of the vision of the school children is a responsibility that must be assumed by school authorities as well as by the parents. Many times the fact that a child has poor vision is not discovered until he enters school. The age at which the vision of school children should be tested, and the methods which should be used, have been matters of considerable discussion. Whether the school physician in his routine examination is able to find the cases of eye defects requiring the attention of an oculist has also been questioned. In our effort to determine these points and to make studies of other factors bearing on visual comfort, a staff was specially formed and equipped to make a study in Syracuse schools. Schools were chosen in which there were children of varied nationalities and economic home conditions. The study was conducted under the direction of the author, with the assistance of one physician full-time and one part-time. The nurse located in the school in which the work was being done also assisted. A clerk recorded findings. The study was begun October 15, 1926, and completed May 31, 1927. A Snellen test card at a distance of 20 feet was used. This was illuminated by direct light greater than 10 foot-candle power. This test was later supplemented by a Snellen test card mounted on a board, to the upper edge of which was attached an electric fixture similar to that used on desk lamps. A 50 candle power frosted bulb threw the desired amount of illumination down upon the chart. This apparatus, which proved most satisfactory, was designed in the D.epartment of Health Supervision of School Children, and was assembled in the vocational department of one of the schools. In addition to the Snellen test card an Ives acuity apparatus * was used. The illumination is a part of the apparatus and therefore of constant intensity. This apparatus measures vision numerically in tenths, with one equivalent to normal, or approximately 20/20 on the Snellen test card. However, after examining 1,499 pupils with