ABSTRACT
In 1989 a national systematic screening programme was implemented in the Netherlands after some pilot-studies in the late 1970s and 1980s. In the most parts of the Netherlands the visual acuity is measured at the age of approximately 3years and 3.9years by a picture chart. Moreover authors will investigate what relations exist between differences in screening, referral and therapy history, and the prevalence and severity of amblyopia at the age of 7 years. Considering the extent of non-compliance with the referral procedures and its possible impact on the effectiveness of the programme as a whole, improvement of this part of the prevention programme appears to be recommendable. Probably, screening for visual disorders in the Netherlands suffers from too many intermediate steps between referral and application of the gold standard, which, of course, is a frequent problem with screening in general. The referral procedures after a positive test result after vision screening in Dutch healthcare centres must be improved.
