Evaluation of accommodative Insufficiency with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatric Optometry

Background:

• Accommodative insufficiency (AI) is a common vision disorder in schoolchildren.
• Asthenopic symptoms, such as eye strain and headaches, often accompany AI.
• The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a subjective tool used to measure symptom severity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if asthenopic symptoms, measured by VAS, correlate with the degree of accommodative deficiency in children with AI.
• To assess if VAS grading can indicate the level of improvement in AI after treatment.

Main Methods:

• Forty-nine schoolchildren diagnosed with AI participated in the study.
• Asthenopic symptoms were graded using the VAS before and after a 12-week treatment period.
• Treatment involved wearing individually prescribed reading glasses.

Main Results:

• Significant improvement in accommodative amplitude (p < 0.001) was observed post-treatment, with 83.7% achieving normal levels.
• Significant reduction in asthenopic symptoms (p < 0.001) was reported, with 89.9% achieving normal VAS scores.
• No statistically significant correlation was found between accommodative deficiency and VAS grading, either pre- or post-treatment.

Conclusions:

• The VAS is not a reliable indicator of the degree of accommodative deficiency or treatment-related improvement in AI.
• The VAS is valuable for documenting the presence and relief of asthenopic symptoms in children with AI.
• VAS can serve as a tool to confirm symptom resolution during vision therapy.