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Some pediatric ophthalmologists prescribing fewer patching hours
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Because of results of a randomized trial comparing patching regimens, pediatric ophthalmologists may have prescribed fewer patching hours in 2006 than in 2003 for children with moderate amblyopia, according to a study by researchers in Israel and Canada.
"However, the majority of ophthalmologists are still reluctant to patch for only 2 hours, and there has not been a significant increase in prescribing near visual tasks during patching," the study authors said.
Tamara Wygnanski-Jaffe, MD, and Alex V. Levin, MD, MHSc, FRCSC, investigated the extent to which recommendations of a randomized trial comparing patching regimens, which was published in 2003, were adopted by pediatric ophthalmologists. The researchers sent identical e-mail questionnaires to members of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus 6 months after the trial's publication and again 3 years later, according to the study.
Of 107 total responses, 55% indicated that they had somewhat decreased their prescribed patching regimens, compared with 28% in 2003 (P = .0005). However, the researchers found no significant increase in prescribed patching regimens for near visual tasks or 2-hour patching, the authors reported.
The study is published in the October issue of Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.