Abstract
Purpose :
We evaluated the impact of strabismus in children and their families, using the newly-developed, patient- and parent-derived Pediatric Eye Questionnaires (PedEyeQ) to assess functional vision and eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL).
Methods :
66 children (median 4 years old, range 0 to 17) with strabismus (10 PD or greater by simultaneous prism cover test) and 58 visually normal children (median 7 years, 0 to 16 years) were prospectively enrolled, along with one parent for each child. Children >5 years old completed the Child PedEyeQ containing five domains. All parents completed the Proxy PedEyeQ containing five domains and Parent PedEyeQ containing four domains. For Child, Proxy and Parent questionnaires, each domain was Rasch-scored, then converted to a 0-100 scale, and median scores compared between strabismus patients and normals using Wilcoxon tests.
Results :
Of the 66 children with strabismus, 37 had esotropia, 20 exotropia, and 9 hypertropia (median angle 22 PD, range 10 to 50 PD). Children with strabismus had lower (worse) Child PedEyeQ scores than normals on each domain: Functional Vision 80 vs 100; P=0.006, Bothered by Eyes/Vision 85 vs 100; P=0.0008, Social 83 vs 100; P<.0001 and Frustration/Worry 80 vs 100; P=0.0003. Proxy PedEyeQ scores were also lower for children with strabismus across all domains: Functional Vision 85 vs 100; Bothered by Eyes/Vision 90 vs 100, Social 100 vs 100, Frustration/Worry 90 vs 100, Eye-care 83 vs 100 (P<.0001 for each). For the Parent PedEyeQ scores were again lower for strabismus patients across all domains: Impact on parent/family: 90 vs 100, Worry about eye condition 60 vs 100, Worry about self-perception 79 vs 100, Worry about functional vision 75 vs 100 (P<.0001 for each).
Conclusions :
Using the patient- and parent-derived PedEyeQ, children with strabismus have reduced ER-QOL and functional vision compared with visually normal children. In addition, parents of children with strabismus have poorer quality of life than parents of visually normal children. These findings of reduced ER-QOL and functional vision in children with strabismus and their parents confirm known-group validity of the new PedEyeQ.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.