U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of children aged 3 to 5 years who get vision screening — V‑01 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), CDC/NCHS

Baseline: 58.8 percent of children aged 3 to 5 years received vision screening in 2023

Target: 63.7 percent

Numerator
Number of children aged 3 to 5 years who have ever had their vision tested.
Denominator
Number of children aged 3 to 5 years.
Target-setting method
Percentage point improvement
Target-setting method details
Percentage point improvement from the baseline using Cohen's h effect size of 0.10.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. A percentage point improvement was calculated using Cohen's h effect size of 0.1. This method was used because a five percentage point increase represents an ambitious yet achievable target for this objective. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends vision screening at least once in all children aged three to five years to detect amblyopia or its risk factors.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2023 National Health Interview Survey Vision Supplement:

Numerator and Denominator:
Has [child's name] EVER had [his/her] vision tested by a doctor or other health professional?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Refused
  4. Don't know

Methodology notes

All children who were reported to have ever had their vision tested by a doctor or other health professional (as a response of "yes" to the Numerator question) were considered to have met the criteria for this objective.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective V-1 in that objective V-1 tracked preschool children aged 5 years and under who received vision screening, while this objective tracks preschool children aged 3 to 5 years who receive vision screening, as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Revision History
Revised. 

In 2024, this objective was revised due to the 2019 NHIS redesign. The baseline was revised from 66.5% in 2017 to 58.8% in 2023. The target was revised from 71.1% to 63.7% using the original target setting method.

1. Effect size h=0.1 was chosen to correspond with 10% improvement from a baseline of 50%.