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Parents need constant explanation to ensure cooperation in amblyopia treatment
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BUENOS AIRES — Ophthalmologists treating children for amblyopia must repeatedly explain the treatment and its reasoning to the parents in order to ensure their assistance, a speaker said here.
 Vincent Paris |
"Explain, explain, explain because they seem to understand, but they are so involved with the problem of their child that they cannot understand," Vincent Paris, MD, said at the Argentinean Society of Ophthalmology Annual Course.
In his regimen, Dr. Paris requires parents to occlude their child for up to 200 hours. When questioned on how the parents react to that high number of hours, he explained that more than 80% of the parents are coming to him for their second, third or fourth opinion.
"They were disappointed [with previous results]," he said.
Dr. Paris said he explains to them that his method has a 95% success rate but that he needs their cooperation.
"I have the method. If you follow my method, your child will have good vision. If you do not follow my method, your child will have bad vision. You are responsible," he said he tells parents.
Still, he said there are obstacles in communication, especially in situations of separated parents who require separate explanations or parents who over-patch.
"Sometimes you think they understood, but they understood nothing," Dr. Paris said, laughing.