Reduced patching equally effective for amblyopia

BETHESDA, Md. — Better compliance and happier children may be the results of a recent study of amblyopia.

The study found that patching the unaffected eye of a patient with moderate amblyopia for 2 hours daily is as effective as patching the eye for 6 hours. With the shorter therapy session time, better patient compliance is expected, noted a press release from the National Eye Institute, which sponsored the study.

“These results will change the way doctors treat moderate amblyopia and make an immediate difference in treatment compliance and the quality of life for children with this eye disorder,” said Paul Sieving, PhD, MD, director of the National Eye Institute.

He said one of the main advantages of the shorter treatment regimen is that children can complete the patching at home, avoiding the social stigma of wearing a patch to school.

The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group studied 189 patients; 95 were assigned to wear a patch for 2 hours a day and 94 were assigned to wear a patch for 6 hours a day. Average age was 5 years. Parents were requested to have their children wear the patch continuously and spend at least 1 hour with the patch on doing near work activity.

After 4 months of follow-up, 97% of patients in the 2-hour group and 95% in the 6-hour group completed the primary outcome exam. Both groups showed substantial improvement in the eye with amblyopia, averaging 2.4 lines improvement from baseline.

Vision in the normal eye decreased by 2 lines or less in 21% of the 2-hour group and in 24% of the 6-hour group. The researchers noted that this is a normal occurrence for patients with amblyopia. The unaffected eye is expected to revert to normal after treatment ceases.