The 20th Hong Kong International Optometric Symposium

Presentation Topic - Current Research on Managing Amblyopia in Children Amblyopia is a leading cause of vision loss in children and affects 2–4% of the population.  It is a developmental abnormality resulting from abnormal binocular visual experience during the “sensitive period” early in life.  If detected and treated early, amblyopia can often be reversed.  Conventional clinical management or treatment of amblyopia in children includes correction of refractive errors, patching of the stronger eye, penalization of the stronger eye using atropine or optical methods.  Over the past three to four decades, a lot of effort has been devoted to the development of active methods to treat amblyopia.  These methods include perceptual learning and videogame playing.  Improvements in visual functions have been observed following these treatment methods.  More recently, dichoptic training targeting binocular functions has been suggested as a more effective treatment of amblyopia.  In this talk, I will provide an overview of the current management and recent research related to the treatment of amblyopia in children, and discuss the challenges associated with using these methods and their efficacies.

Presentation Topic - Four Steps To Best-Practice Children's Vision Care This lecture will combine the latest science with clinical translation and practical advice to increase participants’ skills and confidence in managing children. The four steps to best-practice children's vision care will be achieving accurate refraction, measuring binocular vision, managing myopia risks and prescribing for myopia control. Each of the four steps will include the 'why' (a brief research review), the 'how' (practical steps to take) and advice on 'what' to explain to parents.

Presentation Topic - Special Education Needs (SEN) Children and Their Assessments This presentation aims to share some basic concepts on child development and to give an overview on some common types of developmental problems in children (e.g. developmental delay, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental language disorder, dyslexia). Children with developmental problems or special education needs (SEN) are more likely to have eye or visual problems than their typically developing peers. The visual characteristics and problems of children with different types of developmental problems and the challenges in their assessment will be explored. The role of optometrists in the assessment and co-management to better the needs and participation of these children will also be discussed.

Presentation Topic - Updates on Myopia Control Myopia is a global epidemic, expected to affect half the population by 2050. Surveys in 2015 and 2019 identified a high level of eye care practitioner concern about myopia with a reported a moderately high level of activity, but the vast majority still prescribed single vision interventions to young myopes. This presentation will update these findings from a self-administrated, internet-based questionnaire distributed in eight languages, through professional bodies to eye care practitioners globally. The questions examined: awareness of increasing myopia prevalence, perceived efficacy of available strategies and adoption levels of such strategies, and reasons for not adopting specific strategies. The results will be discussed in light of the latest evidence of when and how long to treat, and the effectiveness of the differing environmental, optical and pharmaceutical treatment modalities.

Presentation Topic - Optometry and meeting the future challenges in eyecare The recent World Report on Vision outlines the challenge of avoidable vision impairment facing eye care going forwards due to the increasing prevalence of ocular disease, and the inequity of access to eye care. This presentation discusses how the profession of optometry needs to respond to these issues through the potential of changing scope and/or roles in health care, in order for the profession to play an increasingly significant role in improving eye health outcomes.

Presentation Topic - Role of Optometry in Primary Care of Older Adults The importance of vision in primary care of older adults as a component of healthy ageing will be described. The United Nations has named 2021-2030 to be a decade of healthy ageing. The World Health Organization has proposed intrinsic capacity as a metric of health ageing, where the goal is the maintenance of functional ability using an integrated community care model (ICOPE), using a step care approach. Common visual abnormalities to be screened include refraction errors, cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and various retinopathies related to chronic diseases, as well as retinal detachment. Visual impairment is common, and is an important risk factor for adverse outcomes in older adults such as self-care, frailty, incontinence, poor self-rated health, and hospital admissions. The Cadenza Hub represents a model of how optometry can be integrated into a one-stop community centre, using a self-financing model.