Imprensa

The 7th International Conference on Low Vision (Abstracts)

E11 55
THE VIDI COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAM
S Veitzman¹, M C Lapa², S R Salomao², R N Ventura^1
1Santa Casa SP Medical Sciences College, Ophthalmology, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
²Federal University of Sao Paulo, Ophthatmology, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
³Federal University of Sao Paulo, Pediatrics, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Purpose: WHO estimates the number of low vision children in latin american countries as 3 times superior to the number of blind children.75% of the cases range from moderate to mild visual loss (visual acuity over 20/200). Detection early diagnosis and treatment are not always possible due to unaccessibility to low vision services. Our purpose was to create a community based program in Embu, periphery of Sao Paulo (60.000 inhab) with approximately 300 low vision children. In order to detect and treat low vision children and orientate their families a basic, unexpensive and effective model using the community own resources was proposed. Methods: Through a partnership between VIDI Institute, municipality secretariats and Federal University of Sao Paulo, VIDI basic and simple educational materials for detection, vision training, magnification through optical resources and environmental adaptation were created. Capacitation and training of community human resources as health agents, community leaderships, day caregivers and teachers, family doctors were organized for transference of VIDI know how at a heath centre in Jardim Santo Eduardo - Embu. Public education through the local midia and development of citizenship guidelines were also promoted. Results: The VIDI community based first center in Embu detected 31 children from 0 to 15 years of age, 30% under 3 years of age. From those, 40% of visual loss was caused by Congenital Toxoplasmosis, 20% by Rubella and 25% by prematurity and CVD. 29 children needed low magnification resources, 14 only for near (up to + 6.00 D), 11 only for distance (2X), and 4 for near and distance. After adaptation of low cost telescopes and near glasses, 9 children aged 7 to 9 were reintegrated to local public school system. Conclusion: The VIDI community based program had proved to be a successful model, low cost investiment, short time beneficial and of easy replication.

P159
VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN CHILDHOOD: A WEB-BASED PROTOCOL
S Veitzman¹, S R Salomao², C L Wen^3
1Santa Casa de Misericórdia, Ophthalmology, Sao Paulo, Brazil
²Federal U of Sao Paulo, Ophthalmology, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
³U of Sao Paulo/ Medical School, Telemedicine, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Purpose: Visual impairment prevalence in childhood varies from 0.8/1000 to 6/1000, respectively in developed and developing countries. Several causes are related to visual loss in infancy, and they can vary according to geographical, cultural, educational, socio-economic and health care peculiarities of each country. Our purpose was to ellaborate a multicentric web-based protocol to be used for a national registry of visually impaired children in Brazil. Methods: We used MS Front Page 2000, Paint Shop Pro 6.0, MS Visual Interdev 6.0 and MS-SQL 7.0 database. Database was determined according to the WHO guidelines for future worldwide compatibility. New fields were inserted and a simplified form was implemented. The protocol is available at the http://www.saudeparavoce.com.br/defvisual, with restricted access, controlled by password. Four institutions (VIDI Institute, Santa Casa Hospital, Fernandes Figueira Institute and Federal University of Minas Gerais), located in 3 different Brazilian states, are currently using the protocol. So far, 197 patients, aging from 0-15 years, had been registered. Results: Out of 197 patients, 88 registries were fully processed. Main causes for visual impairment in childhood were: infantile cataract in 42% (37/88), ocular toxoplasmosis in 35% (31/88), retina disorders in 11% (11/88) and other causes (corneal, glaucoma, coroidal disorders) in 12% (12/88). Conclusions: Multicentric scientific protocols based on the web seem to be a valuable tool. Since they allow centralized information with on-line follow-up, avoiding time delay when data are exchanged by other means. Other advantages include resources sharing and availability to other participating centers around the world, low costs and feasibility.