Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 17, 2025
08:34
The Measurement and Treatment of Suppression in Amblyopia
Published on: December 14, 2012
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Interventions for improving adherence to amblyopia treatments in children
Debora Ml Chen1, Silvia Han2, Allison Summers3
1Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|July 2, 2025
Summary
This review found insufficient evidence that behavioral or digital interventions improve adherence to amblyopia treatments in children. More research is needed to determine effective strategies for amblyopia management.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatrics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Amblyopia is a common neurodevelopmental visual disorder in children.
- Treatment effectiveness is often limited by poor adherence to prescribed therapies.
- Interventions to improve adherence are crucial for successful amblyopia management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the efficacy and harms of behavioral and digital interventions for improving children's objective adherence to amblyopia treatments.
- To evaluate the impact of these interventions on visual acuity and stereoacuity.
- To identify any harms associated with adherence-enhancing interventions.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs.
- Searched multiple databases (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase.com, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, ICTRP) without date or language restrictions.
- Included studies of children aged 3-18 years with amblyopia, comparing adherence interventions to standard care or no intervention.
Main Results:
- Included 18 studies with 1456 participants; most studies had a high risk of bias.
- No discernible pattern favored behavioral interventions for improving adherence; little to no improvement in visual acuity or stereoacuity.
- Digital interventions showed similar or worse adherence, with limited data on visual outcomes.
- No studies reported serious harms, but non-serious harms included discomfort and patching-related issues.
Conclusions:
- The available data are of very low certainty, precluding conclusions on the effectiveness of behavioral or digital interventions for amblyopia treatment adherence.
- Further high-quality research with objective adherence measures is needed.
- Conclusions regarding visual outcomes and serious harms could not be drawn due to limited data.
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