Self-perception of School-aged Children With Amblyopia and Its Association With Reading Speed and Motor Skills

Abstract

Reading and eye-hand coordination deficits in children with amblyopia may impede their ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, compete in sports and physical activities, and interact with peers. Because perceived scholastic, social, and athletic competence are key determinants of self-esteem in school-aged children, these deficits may influence a child's self-perception. OBJECTIVE To determine whether amblyopia is associated with lowered self-perception of competence, appearance, conduct, and global self-worth and whether the self-perception of children with amblyopia is associated with their performance of reading and eye-hand tasks. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2016 to June 2017 at the Pediatric Vision Laboratory of the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and included healthy children in grades 3 to 8, including 50 children with amblyopia; 13 children without amblyopia with strabismus, anisometropia, or both; and 18 control children. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Self-perception was assessed using the Self-perception Profile for Children, which includes 5 domains: scholastic, social, and athletic competence; physical appearance; behavioral conduct; and a separate scale for global self-worth. Reading speed and eye-hand task performance were evaluated with the Readalyzer (Bernell) and Movement Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Edition. Visual acuity and stereoacuity also were assessed. RESULTS Of 50 participants, 31 (62%) were girls, 31 (62%) were non-Hispanic white, 6 (12%) were Hispanic white, 3 (6%) were African American, 4 (8%) were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 3 (6%) were more than 1 race/ethnicity, and the mean [SD] age was 10.6 [1.3] years. Children with amblyopia had significantly lower scores than control children for scholastic (mean [SD

Abnormal Monocular and Dichoptic Temporal Synchrony in Adults with Amblyopia

“…Although the best-corrected visual acuity of the amblyopic eye is the main outcome in clinical trials and clinical practice regarding amblyopia, recent studies have suggested that best-corrected visual acuity of the amblyopic eye might not be the main reason for the poor life quality of amblyopes. 44,45 The relationship between temporal synchrony deficits within the eye and between eyes in amblyopia and patients' quality of life will need to be further studied. In addition, accumulating evidence indicates that the poor visual performance of amblyopes in spatial visual processing can be improved by refractive correction, patching, atropine, perceptual learning, and other methods.…”

Factors Associated with Impaired Motor Skills in Strabismic and Anisometropic Children

“…These studies have found that amblyopic children and adults have impaired fine motor skills, such as reaching, grasping, object manipulation, and transferring test answers to a multiple-choice form. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] A limited number of studies have also found gross motor impairments in amblyopic adults and children performing tasks designed to assess postural stability and walking, [26][27][28] and such impairments can increase the risk of injury. 29 However, these studies had heterogeneous groups with limited age ranges and small sample sizes, thus making it difficult to ascertain factors associated with motor impairments.…”

Efficacy of interventions for amblyopia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

“…Based on the current evidence, amblyopia is mainly caused by uncorrected refractive error, strabismus, cataract and ptosis [4]. There is a plethora of visual function deficits of the amblyopic individual that could affect learning, daily activities and psychological state of affected children [5,6]. Therefore, it is essential to get the best treatment during the critical period to avoid severe consequences later on due to this disorder.…”