The Feasibility of an Educational Cartoon Video for Improving Adherence with Amblyopia Treatment in Children

Previous studies have shown that it is necessary to evaluate adherence during the treatment process, using educational intervention methods which have been shown to improve adherence with patching treatment. A previous study reported that an educational cartoon had significantly improved adherence with patching. However, this black-white cartoon is not commercially available.

This study investigates the feasibility of a 4-minute educational cartoon video in improving adherence with patching therapy for amblyopic children.

Children (3 to 10 years old) with unilateral amblyopia who were prescribed 2 hours or 6 hours of patching per day were enrolled. Objective adherence to the treatment was tracked using a microsensor. Children returned after 4 weeks ± 2 days to measure adherence. Participants with adherence ≤50% were eligible to watch the educational cartoon video. They continued with the previously prescribed treatment (2 hours or 6 hours patching) for an additional week to evaluate the follow-up adherence.

A total of 27 participants were enrolled. The mean age (SD) was 6.6 (1.5) years. Twenty-two participants (12 in the 2 hours patching group and 10 in the 6 hours patching group) had adherence ≤50% and watched our cartoon video. The cartoon video improved mean adherence (SD) from 29.6% (11.9%) to 56.8% (12.1%) in all 22 participants from both regimens (paired 2-tailed t-test, t= -11, P < 0.000).

The Educational cartoon video is feasible for use in a clinical setting. These data showed a trend of improvement in adherence with both patching regimens in children after watching the educational cartoon video.