Results.
Grating acuity was finer than optotype acuity among amblyopic eyes (medians: 0.28 vs. 0.40 logMAR, respectively, p < 0.0001) but not among fellow eyes (medians: 0.03 vs. 0.10 logMAR, respectively, p = 0.36). The optotype acuity-grating acuity discrepancy among amblyopic eyes was larger for cases of severe amblyopia than for moderate amblyopia (means: 0.64 vs. 0.18 logMAR, respectively, p = 0.0001). Nevertheless, most cases of amblyopia were detected successfully by the TAC, yielding a sensitivity of 80%. Furthermore, grating acuity was relatively sensitive to all amblyopia subtypes (69 to 89%) and levels of severity (79 to 83%).
Conclusions.
Although grating acuity is finer than optotype acuity in amblyopic eyes, most children with amblyopia were identified correctly suggesting that grating acuity is an effective clinical alternative for detecting amblyopia.