Occlusion Therapy In Amblyopia: Factors That Influence The Outcome [terapia Oclusiva Em Ambliopia: Fatores Prognósticos]

Purpose: Amblyopia is the most common form of visual problem in children and for more than 250 years occlusion therapy is the standard treatment. Thus our purpose is to identify the factors that influence the outcome of amblyopia treatment with occlusion therapy. Methods: We reviewed 169 amblyopic children seen in the outpatient clinic of amblyopia of the Campinas State University, between January 1996 and May 1998. Patients were analyzed regarding sex, age at start of treatment (3 groups), affected eye, type of amblyopia (strabismic, anisometropic, visual deprivation, associated), follow-up, initial visual acuity (light, moderate, severe), compliance with treatment (good, poor) and outcome (fully treated, partially treated, not treated). Results: Compliance was not seen to be significantly related to age at start of treatment (p=0.68) or initial visual acuity (p=0.82). 52.67% of the patients were fully treated while 19.52% were partially treated and 27.81% were not treated. Children recorded as showing good compliance had a significantly better outcome than those with poor compliance (p=0.0009). Neither the age at start of treatment (p=0.39) nor the initial visual acuity (p=0.30) were significantly correlated with the final outcome. Conclusions: We concluded that the main factor affecting the final outcome of amblyopia treatment is compliance.642123126Von Noorden, G.K., (1990) Binocular Vision and Ocular Motility: Theory and Management of Strabismus, pp. 208-245. , 4th ed. St. Louis, USA, C.V. MosbyKara-José, N., Carvalho, K.M., Caldato, R., Pereira, V., Oliveira, A.M., Fonseca, N.J.C., Atendimento de amblíopes e prevalência na população pré-escolar (1984) Bol. Oficina Sanit Panam, 96, pp. 31-37. , Campinas, São Paulo, BrasilSmith, L.K., Thompson, J.R., Woodruff, G., Hiscox, F., Factors affecting treatment compliance in amblyopia (1995) J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus, 32, pp. 98-101Souza, E.C., Carvalho, A.K.R., Pulchinelli, A., Gass, C., Rothe, E., Vanzella, L.L., Cura e recorrência da ambliopia após terapia oclusiva (1994) Arq Bras Oftalmol, 57, pp. 16-19Monteiro De Carvalho, K.M., Tratamiento de la ambliopía (1998) Actualidades del Estrabismo Latinoamericano. México: Consejo Latinoamericano de Estrabismo, pp. 19-24. , Yllanes MEA, Prieto Diaz J, Souza Dias C, Restrepo GVFielder, A.R., Auld, R., Irwin, M., Cocker, K.D., Jones, H.S., Moseley, M.J., Compliance monitoring in amblyopia therapy (1994) Lancet, 343, p. 547Hiscox, F., Strong, N., Thompson, J.R., Minshull, C., Woodruff, G., Occlusion for amblyopia: A comprehensive survey of outcome (1992) Eye, 6, pp. 300-304Monteiro De Carvalho, K.M., Simões, M.S.T., Sanabria, L.B.G., Kara-José, N., Ambliopia: Necessidade de prevenção pré-escolar (1996) Arq Bras Oftalmol, 59, p. 354Campos, E.C., Update on strabismus and amblyopia (1995) Acta Ophthalmol Scand, 214, pp. 17-24Gurovich, L., Ambliopia (1996) Estrabismo, pp. 55-91. , Prieto-Diaz J, Souza-Dias C., Argentina: La PlataSerpa, G., Carvalho, K.M.M., Kara-José, N., Ambliopia: Aderência ao tratamento (1995) Arq Bras Oftalmol, 58, p. 226Nucci, P., Alfarano, R., Piantadina, A., Brancato, R., Compliance in antiamblyopia occlusion therapy (1992) Acta Ophthalmol, 70, pp. 128-131Beardsell, R., Clarke, S., Hill, M., Outcome of occlusion treatment for amblyopia (1999) J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus, 36, pp. 19-24Woodruff, G., Hiscox, F., Thompson, J.R., Smith, L.K., Factors affecting the outcome of children treated for amblyopia (1994) Eye, 8, pp. 627-631Campos, E., Amblyopia (1995) Surv Ophthalmol, 40, pp. 23-3