Development and validation of the Turkish version of the MNREAD visual acuity charts

Aim: To design and validate a Turkish version of the MNREAD acuity charts. Materials and methods: A vocabulary was created using high-frequency words that appear in Turkish schoolbooks used by 8-year-old children in the third grade. In total, 125 sentences were generated. Th e sentences were read by 2 groups (20 adults and 20 primary school students), and reading time and verbal mistakes were recorded. Th ereaft er, persistent verbal mistakes and sentences with extreme high and low mean reading speeds were excluded. Finally, the validity of the participants’ reading speed as measured with the MNREAD Turkish version was determined by comparing it to their reading speed for daily reading tasks. Results: Reading speed for text of 1.6 M print size (logMAR 0.6) was 185.10 ± 20.46 words/min, reading speed for text of 1 M print size (logMAR 0.4) was 185.45 ± 27.27 words/min, and the maximum reading speeds calculated using the MNREAD Turkish version were 191.50 ± 32.19 words/min for chart 1 and 190.55 ± 27.35 words/min for chart 2. As expected, correlations were observed between chart 1 and chart 2 (r = 0.88, P < 0.01), between chart 1 and logMAR 0.6 text (r = 0.74, P < 0.01), between chart 1 and logMAR 0.4 text (r = 0.67, P < 0.01), between chart 2 and logMAR 0.6 text (r = 0.63, P < 0.01), and between chart 2 and logMAR 0.4 text (r = 0.59, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Th e MNREAD Turkish version was tested using persons with normal vision and results were obtained from similar groups using daily reading material. Th e MNREAD acuity charts are logarithmic and continuous-text reading acuity charts for people in Turkey with normal and low vision

Screening 5 and 6 year-old children starting primary school for development and language

Yılmaz D, Bayar-Muluk N, Bayoğlu B, İdil A, Anlar B. Screening 5 and 6 year-old children starting primary school for development and language. Turk J Pediatr 2016; 58: 136-144. Beginning school is an important milestone for children. Children's readiness for school involves cognitive, physical, and emotional development. Certain school programs allow children to start first grade after 66 months of age, together with 72 month-old children. In order to estimate school readiness, we screened children before starting first grade and compared their school performance according to their age and socio-demographic characteristics. Marmara School Readiness, Denver II developmental screening, and language assessment tests were applied. Language delays were more frequent and school readiness test scores were lower in the younger group compared to older children. However, school achievement did not differ between the two age groups. Preschool education, parental income and education affected performance in most tests. Preschool screening seems effective in detecting children with lower than average developmental skills, and the school system may provide a practical opportunity for providing support to those children