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Emotional Impact of Eye Patching Therapy for ChildrenMCreated:August 31, 2004Kids Emotionally Okay with Eye Patch for AmblyopiaIn the August issue of Ophthalmology, UK researchers reported that eye patches or glasses to correct amblyopia are unlikely to cause long-lasting emotional harm to children. The researchers sent a self-completion questionnaire, including a psychometric behavioral scale, to the parents of all children recruited to the trial at age four years, to 66 whose deferred treatment began at age five years, and finally to 151 remaining in the trial at the end of follow up. The children had been recruited to a randomized controlled trial of treatment for unilateral visual impairment and randomly assigned to receive either glasses with or without patches, glasses alone or treatment deferred for one year. The researchers concluded that treatment for unilateral visual impairment isn't easy to implement and is commonly associated with some degree of distress. Despite this, no impact on the child's global well being or behavior was seen either during or after the treatment period. |