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- Page navigation anchor for RE: Screening for impaired vision in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older in primary care settingsRE: Screening for impaired vision in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older in primary care settings
Wilson et al recently published a guideline for family practitioners recommending against vision screening, defined as either asking a question about vision health or vision testing such as visual acuity, for Canadians 65 years or older based on ‘low-quality evidence’.1 The methodology of the review is not being challenged. However, the conclusions are not supported and are being questioned by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society for several reasons.
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The literature on which this guideline was based is from studies outside of Canada. Health care policies such as public funding of routine eye examinations differ by region and this should be considered in making recommendations. In Canada routine eye exams performed by optometrists or ophthalmologists for seniors are not government-funded in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island which represents 460,700 of Canadians (7.4%) aged 65+ relying on family practitioners as the entry point for eye care.2 Wilson et al referenced the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey and reported that 59% of adults 65+ consulted an eye care professional in the previous year.1, 3 This statistic is misleading since it also included those with a known eye condition. For those without a known eye condition only 51% of seniors living in a province with government-insured eye examinations had seen an eye care professional in the preceding year and this decreased to 42% for those seniors living in the 4 p...Competing Interests: None declared.