Children With Strabismus and Their Parents Report a Reduced Quality of Life

Children with strabismus and their parents tend to report reduced eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL), according to a study published in Clinical Ophthalmology.

Researchers enrolled 63 children from a tertiary care center observed between September and October 2020 in the study. They stratified participants into 2 groups consisting of children with strabismus (n=42) and healthy controls (n=21). Among patients with strabismus, 24 received an operation and 18 did not. The team administered the PedEyeQ questionnaire to all participants and their parents and recorded clinical data including type of strabismus, angle of deviation, amblyopia, occlusion treatment, and surgical outcome.

Among the 4 domains of the PedEyeQ, children with strabismus scored lower in 3 compared with controls. Scores for all categories consisted of scales ranging from 0-100, with 0 indicating “worst” and 100 indicating “best.” The “functional vision” domain revealed a lower score for the controls compared with the strabismus cohort with no statistical significance (84±20 and 85±17, respectively). However, scores for the “social,” “bothered by eyes/vision,” and “frustration/worry” domains were lower for patients with strabismus compared with controls, and achieved statistical significance in the latter 2 domains (78±21 and 93±10, P =.09; 83±18 and 93±17, P =.01; 64±21 and 99±4, P <.001, respectively). 

Investigators also compared data between subgroups of children with strabismus. Children who received surgery had a lower “frustration/worry” score compared with those who did not undergo surgery (P =.03). Undergoing incision surgery was linked with lower “bothered by eyes/vision” domain scores compared with receiving botulinum toxin (86±17 vs 100±0, P =.029).

Children with strabismus who wore glasses had a lower “bothered by eyes/vision” domain score (76±19 vs 93±8, P =.009) and “functional vision” domain score (81±17 vs 91±12, P =.019) compared with those who did not wear spectacles.

“Children with strabismus and their families might have impaired functional vision and reduced ER-QO,” according to the investigators “Educational programs and psychosocial rehabilitation interventions should be implemented in children with strabismus and their families.”

Limitations of the study include a small sample size, single center design, and variable time between surgery and questionnaire application.

Reference

Silva N, Castro C, Caiado F, et al. Evaluation of functional vision and eye-related quality of life in children with strabismus. Clin Ophthalmol. 2022;16:803-813. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S354835