Parents as Screeners for Strabismus in Their Children

Abstract

The purpose of the study described in this article was to determine the accuracy of parents in identifying strabismus (disorder of eye in which optic axis cannot be directed to same object) in their young children. Data are presented on 536 children (84 strabismics and 452 non-strabismics), aged 3–71 months, that show parents to be remarkably good detectors of strabismus. The predictive value of their positive tests was 93 percent; sensitivity, 65 percent; and specificity, 99 percent.