Researcher Erin Harvey, PhD, assistant professor with The University of Arizona Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science in Tucson, has received a $3.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to expand a study of vision screening, astigmatism and amblyopia on the Tohono O'odham Nation, south of Tucson.
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The grant will allow the study -- called the Tohono
O'odham Vision-Screening Program -- to screen and treat Tohono O'odham
children from 6 months of age through first grade for astigmatism. The
study also will focus on the early development of astigmatism and
amblyopia.
Astigmatism is a condition in which the shape of the cornea prevents clear vision at any distance. If not corrected at an early age, astigmatism can lead to amblyopia (sometimes called "lazy eye"), poor vision that cannot be treated successfully with corrective lenses. The Tohono O'odham Vision-Screening Program is a collaborative effort by the UA Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, sponsored by the Tohono O'odham Nation and funded by the NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health. The program began in 1997 when Joseph Miller, MD, MPH, professor and head of the UA Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, received NEI funding to test and treat 4- to 5-year-olds on the reservation for astigmatism and to identify the best screening methods to detect the condition. |
In 2000, the NEI awarded $1.7 million to extend the study for four years. Phase II, which ended in July 2005, focused on children in kindergarten through sixth grade to determine the maximum age at which children could be successfully treated for amblyopia resulting from uncorrected astigmatism.
The newly-funded Phase III of the study will run through 2010. Study co-investigators Drs. Harvey and Miller and Velma Dobson, PhD, UA professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Science and Psychology, are being joined by researcher Jim Schwiegerling, PhD, UA associate professor with joint appointments in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science and the College of Optical Sciences. The results of Phase III will help determine at what age children with astigmatism develop amblyopia, and when eyeglasses should be prescribed to prevent its development. "Previous research suggested that treatment of amblyopia only would be successful before age 7, but didn't supply strong enough evidence," says Dr. Harvey. "So far, the results of our study of a large number of children suggest that older children with amblyopia do have significant improvement in vision over time with eyeglasses."
Since it began, the Tohono O'odham Vision-Screening Program has provided more than 3,500 eye examinations and more than 4,000 pairs of eyeglasses at no charge to children living on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.
