Certain eye conditions in children may affect performance on timed, standardized tests

Bottom Line: Children with eye conditions commonly referred to as lazy eye and crossed eyes were slower at marking answers on multiple-choice answer forms typically used in timed, standardized tests.

Why The Research Is Interesting: Impairment caused by lazy eye (amblyopia) or crossed eyes (strabismus) may affect the speed with which a child can mark answers with a pencil on a multiple-choice answer form.

Who and When: 85 school-age children (average age 10): 47 children with lazy eye, 18 children who had been treated for crossed eyes, and 20 children without these conditions for comparison; study conducted from May 2014 to November 2017

What (Study Measures and Outcomes): Children were asked to transfer the pre-marked correct answers from a standardized reading achievement test booklet to a multiple-choice answer form as quickly as possible without making mistakes or reading the text (exposures); time to complete the task (outcome)

How (Study Design): This was an observational study. Researchers were not intervening for purposes of the study and cannot control all the natural differences that could explain the study findings.

Authors: Krista R. Kelly, Ph.D., Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, and coauthors

Results: Children with lazy eye or crossed eyes required approximately 28 percent more time to complete a 40 question multiple-choice answer sheet than children without eye conditions.

Study Limitations: The authors did not test children to determine whether they had dyslexia, relying on parental report regarding this criterion to be excluded from the study.

More information:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamao … ophthalmol.2018.2295

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