Screening for Cerebral Visual Impairment: Value of a CVI Questionnaire

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the screening utility of a questionnaire for cerebral visual impairment (CVI) by correlating the questionnaire with diagnostic tools such as the L94, the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised and the Visual Perception subtask of the Beery test of VisuoMotor Integration. Methods: The questionnaire consisted of 46 items, exploring different characteristics of CVI. We consecutively recruited 91 children. Parents filled out the questionnaire after which all children were seen for a diagnostic evaluation of CVI. Results: There were 58 boys. Subjects' mean age was 6.10 years. A median of 12 items was ticked in the 45 children with CVI and 7 in the children without impairment. The domain 'visual attitude' scored positive most frequently. A logistic regression model using individual items, yielded Receiver Operating Curves for the questionnaire with good areas under the curve of 0.81 against the L94, 0.78 against the TVPS-R and 0.84 against the VP subtask. The sum score of the 6 domains was found to be an easy-obtainable score with a good sensitivity and specificity profile. Conclusion: This CVI questionnaire is a viable tool that has the potential of being implemented as part of a routine screening procedure for CVI.