An educational intervention to improve adherence to high-dosage patching regimen for amblyopia: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous reports suggest that adherence to patching is a major issue in amblyopia treatment. We tested with an unmasked randomised controlled clinical trial whether an intense educational/motivational intervention improves adherence when a high-dose regime is prescribed. METHODS: 62 children with newly diagnosed amblyopia were randomly allocated into two treatment arms with and without educational/motivational intervention material. Both were prescribed patching 10 h/day, 6 days/week for a fixed period of 12 weeks. The intervention arm received an educational/motivational intervention before patching which included information booklets, video, a cartoon story book, sticker charts and a dedicated session with a researcher. The control arm received the usual clinical information. The primary outcome measure was adherence measured using electronic occlusion dose monitors where a success/failure binary outcome was used to account for participants who dropped out of the study defined as patching >4 h/day. Visual outcome, expressed as percentage visual deficit, was measured as secondary outcome. RESULTS: The intervention increased adherence success rate from 45.2% in the control group to 80.6% in the intervention group (p=0.0027). However, visual outcome was not significantly better in the intervention group (p=0.190). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that an intense educational/motivational intervention can improve adherence to patching to high prescribed doses although no significant improvement in visual outcome was observed. TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN05346737 (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register).

Phenotypical characteristics of idiopathic infantile nystagmus with and without mutations in FRMD7.

Idiopathic infantile nystagmus (IIN) consists of involuntary oscillations of the eyes. The familial form is most commonly X-linked. We recently found mutations in a novel gene FRMD7 (Xq26.2), which provided an opportunity to investigate a genetically defined and homogeneous group of patients with nystagmus. We compared clinical features and eye movement recordings of 90 subjects with mutation in the gene (FRMD7 group) to 48 subjects without mutations but with clinical IIN (non-FRMD7 group). Fifty-eight female obligate carriers of the mutation were also investigated. The median visual acuity (VA) was 0.2 logMAR (Snellen equivalent 6/9) in both groups and most patients had good stereopsis. The prevalence of strabismus was also similar (FRMD7: 7.8%, non-FRMD7: 10%). The presence of anomalous head posture (AHP) was significantly higher in the non-FRMD7 group (P < 0.0001). The amplitude of nystagmus was more strongly dependent on the direction of gaze in the FRMD7 group being lower at primary position (P < 0.0001), compared to non-FRMD7 group (P = 0.83). Pendular nystagmus waveforms were also more frequent in the FRMD7 group (P = 0.003). Fifty-three percent of the obligate female carriers of an FRMD7 mutation were clinically affected. The VA's in affected females were slightly better compared to affected males (P = 0.014). Subnormal optokinetic responses were found in a subgroup of obligate unaffected carriers, which may be interpreted as a sub-clinical manifestation. FRMD7 is a major cause of X-linked IIN. Most clinical and eye movement characteristics were similar in the FRMD7 group and non-FRMD7 group with most patients having good VA and stereopsis and low incidence of strabismus. Fewer patients in the FRMD7 group had AHPs, their amplitude of nystagmus being lower in primary position. Our findings are helpful in the clinical identification of IIN and genetic counselling of nystagmus patients.

Mutations in FRMD7, a newly identified member of the FERM family, cause X-linked idiopathic congenital nystagmus.

Idiopathic congenital nystagmus is characterized by involuntary, periodic, predominantly horizontal oscillations of both eyes. We identified 22 mutations in FRMD7 in 26 families with X-linked idiopathic congenital nystagmus. Screening of 42 singleton cases of idiopathic congenital nystagmus (28 male, 14 females) yielded three mutations (7%). We found restricted expression of FRMD7 in human embryonic brain and developing neural retina, suggesting a specific role in the control of eye movement and gaze stability.

Predictors and a remedy for noncompliance with amblyopia therapy in children measured with the occlusion dose monitor.

PURPOSE: Noncompliance is one of the limiting factors in the success of occlusion therapy for amblyopia. Electronic monitoring was used to investigate predictors of noncompliance, and, in a prospective randomized clinical trial, determined the effectiveness of an educational program. METHODS: Compliance was measured electronically during 1 week every 3 months in 310 newly diagnosed amblyopic children. The family's demographic parameters and the child's clinical parameters were assessed for their influence on the level of compliance. In addition to standard orthoptic care, children were randomized to receive an educational cartoon story, reward stickers, and an information sheet for the parents (intervention group), or a picture to color (reference group). These and the electronic device were distributed during home visits by researchers. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of compliance (actual/prescribed occlusion time) in the two groups. The secondary outcome measure was the influence of demographic and clinical factors on compliance. RESULTS: Compliance was associated with parental fluency in the national language, country of origin, level of education, and initial visual acuity of the child. During the first 1-week measurement period children in the intervention group had better compliance than the reference group had (78% +/- 32% vs. 57% +/- 40%; P < 0.0001), and fewer children were not occluded at all (3 vs. 23 in the reference group; P < 0.0001). This difference remained throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Poor parental fluency in the national language, a low level of education, and poor acuity at the start of treatment were predictors of low compliance. An educational program primarily aimed at the child improved compliance and reduced the number of children who did not comply with occlusion at all.

A randomized controlled trial of unilateral strabismic and mixed amblyopia using occlusion dose monitors to record compliance.

PURPOSE: To investigate compliance with patching therapy and the dose-effect relationship in occlusion therapy in amblyopia by recording the effective patching time using occlusion dose monitors (ODMs). METHODS: Fifty-two children with strabismic or mixed amblyopia (Snellen equivalent, 6/12-6/48) were given optimal refractive correction and randomly allocated for 12 weeks into three treatment groups: group 1, no patching; group 2, prescribed patching for 3 hours; and group 3, prescribed patching for 6 hours. The effective time of occlusion was monitored with ODMs continuously. Visual acuity (VA) was measured every 3 weeks with LogMAR (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) Crowded Tests. RESULTS: In the 3- and 6-hour groups, mean (SD) compliance was 57.5% (30.8%) and 41.2% (30.9%), respectively, and mean effective patching time per day was 1 hour 43 minutes (55 minutes) and 2 hours 33 minutes (1 hour 52 minutes), respectively. The mean (SD) improvement in logMAR VA of amblyopic eyes was 0.24 (0.17), 0.29 (0.14), and 0.34 (0.19) in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There was no significant difference in compliance with the prescribed patching between the 3- and 6-hour groups. VA outcomes in the 3- and 6-hour groups were not significantly better than 0-hour patching. However, the VA of patients with eyes effectively patched for more than 3 hours improved significantly. A dose-effect relationship was observed. Age at treatment did not influence the visual outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Poor compliance with prescribed occlusion explains discrepancies in previous studies. No differences in the effect between the different prescribed patching periods were found. The dose-effect relationship observed should encourage development of methods such as educational intervention to improve visual outcome by increasing effective patching time.