Abstract
Purpose :
Previous studies have reported reduced eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL) and functional vision in children with strabismus, using the Pediatric Eye Questionnaire (PedEyeQ), but have not evaluated the effect of age when compared with normals.
Methods :
98 children (70 aged 5-11 years and 28 aged 12-17 years) with horizontal strabismus (allowing coexistent amblyopia, refractive error, dissociated vertical deviation) and 206 visually normal controls (104, 5-11 years and 102, 12-17 years) were prospectively enrolled. Children completed the Child 5-11 or 12-17 year PedEyeQ, consisting of Functional Vision, Bothered by Eyes/Vision, Social, and Frustration/Worry domains. Each PedEyeQ domain was Rasch-scored and then converted to a 0-100 scale. The 5th percentile of scores in the 5- to 11- and 12- to 17-year normal cohorts was used to define the threshold for “reduced,” for each domain. We compared the proportions of 5- to 11- and 12- to 17-year-olds who had reduced scores in each domain.
Results :
A significantly greater proportion of 12- to 17-year-olds vs 5- to 11-year-olds had reduced scores on each of the four Child PedEyeQ domains: Social 89% vs 19%, (mean difference 71%, 95% CI 56% to 85%; P<0.001), Frustration/Worry 75% vs 21% (mean difference 54%, 95% CI 35% to 72%; P<0.001), Functional Vision 57% vs 34% (mean difference 23%, 95% CI 1% to 44%; P=0.044) and Bothered by Eyes/Vision 57% vs 31% (mean difference 26%, 95% CI 4% to 47%; P=0.02).
Conclusions :
A greater proportion of adolescents report reduced (below the 5th percentile threshold) functional vision and reduced ER-QOL domain scores compared with 5- to 11-year-olds, especially on the Social and Frustration/Worry domains. This effect of child age likely reflects, at least in part, a more realistic self-concept in adolescents. Interpretation of individual scores in younger clinical populations is also made challenging by the considerable variability in 5- to 11-year-old normal controls, such that thresholds to define reduced scores are relatively low.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.