ASSESSMENT OF VISUAL FUNCTIONING IN PREMATURE AND FULL-TERM INFANTS UNDER 24 MONTHS USING PREVIAS

Abstract

The Preverbal Visual Assessment (PreViAs) questionnaire is designed to assess visual functions both in the general pediatric population and in children at high risk for visual cognitive abilities, through parent responses. The aim of the research is to evaluate visual attention (VA), visual communication (VC), visual-motor coordination (VMC), and visual processing (VP) in age subgroups ranging from 0 to 24 months. These subgroups, which were examined, fall under visual cognitive integrative functions, and to assess them, it is necessary to evaluate the child's behavior, which requires an experienced evaluator. The PreViAs questionnaire was designed to assess these functions both in the general pediatric population and in children at high risk for visual cognitive issues, through responses from parents or primary caregivers. Method. A total of 60 infants (<24 months) were divided into two groups based on gestational age. The first group consisted of preterm infants (n=30), while the second group consisted of term-born children (n=30). Their parents or primary caregivers completed the PreViAs questionnaire, which consists of 30 questions related to one or more visual domains: visual attention, visual communication, visual-motor coordination, and visual processing. The responses from the first group of respondents were compared with the results of visual behavior assessments of the second group by ophthalmologists and defectologists-typhlologists. Results. For visual attention, the results ranged from 0 to 11, for visual communication from 0 to 5, for visual-motor coordination from 0 to 13, and for visual processing from 0 to 20. The total score ranged from 0 to 30. The obtained results show that the mean score for visual attention was 6.05±4.15, with a standard error of 0.93, a median and mode of 5.50 and 11, respectively, and the minimum and maximum results ranged from 0 to 11. Conclusion. The PreViAs questionnaire has proven useful for detecting abnormal visual maturation in infants aged 0 to 24 months. It facilitates the process of collecting anamnestic data from infants at risk of visual dysfunctions.