Olivar-Santos, E Tanchoco, Celeste C Velandria, FV Pingol, MC Magbitang, JA text monographic eng

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A sample of 427 randomly selected subjects aged 6 months to 6 years were examined for ocular signs of vitamin A deficiency and serum vitamin A level was measured in a sub-sample of 247 subjects. Conjuctival impression was taken from all subjects. Imprints were submitted to the Institute of Ophthalmology, UP-PGH, where they were analyzed following the procedures of the International Center for Epidemiologic and Preventive Ophthalmology Results revealed that irrespective of serum vitamin A (SVA) levels, more than 50 percent of the subjects had abnormal CIC results. The highest proportion of abnormal imprints were seen among those with low vitamin A. The relationship however, was found not to be significant. Of the 247 subjects examined, 95 percent had normal clinical and biochemical findings. Of these, 50.2 percent had abnormal cytology imprints. The computed sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of CIC were 60.5 percent, 45.2 percent and 60.0 percent, respectively. The lack of significant difference in mean serum retinol levels between normal and abnormal CIC groups may partly explain the low sensitivity and PPV of the CIC. In this study population, CIC failed to identify children with subclinical vitamin A deficiency as established by biochemical examination. (Author) E. Olivar-Santos [and four others] J Nutr-Diet Assoc Philipp, 1994 8 ( 4) pages 107-112 Vitamin A 210429 20210429145236.0 D0001J000572