Battery of visual function tests of oculomotor behaviors: normative and comparative data from Brazilian premature and term infants

Author(s)

Giovana Pascoali Rodovanski

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Psicologia (IP/SBD)
• Defense date: 2023-10-25

Examining board members

Marcelo Fernandes da Costa; Leonardo Dutra Henriques; Cristiane Aparecida Moran; Rafaela Silva Moreira; Dora Selma Fix Ventura; Anita Zimmermann

• Advisor: Marcelo Fernandes da Costa

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis resulted in the creation of three studies, which were arranged into chapters. In the first article, the objective was to systematically review the current scientific literature and identify instruments for assessing visual functions for newborns and infants premature between 0 and 12 months of age. The most used instrument was the Teller acuity cards, which evaluates the visual acuity function, a component widely evaluated in most of the studies included in the review. The second chapter contains the main article of this study, which aimed to provide a normative reference regarding the development of visual functions of Brazilian premature and full-term newborns, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit or maternity, evaluated with a battery of visual function tests. Data from 125 newborns made it possible to create Brazilian standards on the development of eye movement, fixation, visual tracking, stripe discrimination and distance attention functions. In the third study, the objective involved comparing the visual function scores assessed by the visual function test battery between premature and full-term newborns and correlating them with the predictive factors of premature birth. Using the battery of visual function tests, we found statistically significant differences between the premature and full-term groups, with lower scores for gestational ages < 37 weeks. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/09480-1 - Evaluation of visual functions in premature and term newborn: transcultural validation and implantation of a visual instrument
• Grantee: Giovana Pascoali Rodovanski
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate