Northeastern Faculty, Alumni Contribute to National Eye Institute Study

TAHLEQUAH Recently published results from the first phase of the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) study include information gathered by several faculty, staff, and alumni of Northeastern State University College of Optometry. The results were published in the April 2004 issue of the journal Opthamology. VIP is a three-phase study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of vision screening tests commonly used for preschool-aged children and help determine a national policy on those screenings. The study is funded by the National Eye Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

In Phase I of the VIP study, children were first screened by a licensed eye care professional who was experienced in working with children and who had been trained and certified to administer these vision screening tests. The children were then given a comprehensive eye examination using standard diagnostic procedures and tests referred to professionally as a "Gold Standard Eye Examination" by an optometrist or opthamologist who did not know the results of the child's prior screening test. In this way, the study researchers could compare the results from the screening tests and comprehensive eye examinations to evaluate the accuracy of the screening tests.

NSU faculty/staff involved in Phase I of the VIP study include Dr. Lynn Cyert (Tahlequah), project investigator; Linda Cheatham (Tahlequah), project coordinator; Anna Chambless (Tahlequah), assistant project coordinator; and Rod Wyers (Tahlequah), biomedical technician and lay screener. NSUCO alumni that contributed to Phase I findings include screening doctors, Leslie Trimble (Muskogee), James E. Dunn (Poteau), and Elisabeth Harrington (Tulsa); as well as examination doctors Jeff Long (Tulsa), Jerry Carter (Bartlesville), Colby Beats (Broken Arrow), Shelly Rice (Wagoner), and Debbie Coy (Fort Gibson).

Northeastern is one of five universities participating in the nationwide research program, which is expected to last five years and receive more than two million dollars in support. All NSU vision screenings and examinations were conducted in a mobile eye clinic that was specially designed for the VIP Study and manufactured by Mobile Medical Corporation, a subsidiary of Airstream.

To date, the NSU VIP Mobile Eye Clinic has conducted 804 screenings and 802 exams on children enrolled in Muskogee County Head Start, Cookson Hills Community Action Foundation Head Start, Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit Head Start and Community Action Foundation, and Tulsa County Head Start. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 preschoolers will have been tested nationwide by the end of the study.

Phase II and III of the VIP study will evaluate screening tools when administered by pediatric nurses and trained lay screeners, providing insight into the effectiveness of vision screening tests in real world settings. Phase II of the VIP study is now underway. The National Eye Institute will release new study results when they are available.