Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9570
ISSN: 2155-9570
Filipe Gouveia-Moraes*, Sandra Rodrigues-Barros, Ana Vide Escada, Pedro Carreira, Goncalo Tardao, Mariana Vaz, Nadine Marques and Nuno Campos
Garcia de Orta Hospital, Portugal
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol
Introduction: Strabismus is a common condition among children and its psychosocial impact has been demonstrated in recent years. The interest in a more comprehensive approach was enhanced by the recognition of health as a four dimensional concept, arising the term Health- related Quality of Life. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the influence of strabismus in Health Related Quality of Life of a Portuguese pediatric population. Material and Methods: Case-control prospective study enrolling children between 5-12 years old from Dr. Gama Pinto Ophthalmology Institute. All had fully orthoptic and ophthalmological evaluation, followed by interview with legal representative to answer the Pediatric Quality-of Life Inventory 4.0, proxy-version. Results: 71 children were included, 35 in the Control Group (CG) and 36 in the Strabismus Group (SG). In the SG 30 (83.3%) patients had esotropia, 20 (55.6%) had more than 10 prismatic diopters and 26 (72.2%) were already treated. Overall, SG was not statistically different from the CG, showing only mild inferior performance (p>0.05). Furthermore, children with exotropia, higher deviations, none or gross stereoacuity and treatmentnaïve scored worse, especially in emotional, social, educational and psychosocial scores (p<0.05). Discussions: The hypothesis of an association between strabismus and impaired Health Related Quality of Life was not statistically supported by study data when the proxy version of the Pediatric Quality-of-Life Inventory was used. However, a consistent trend toward lower scores in the SG, subgroups with larger deviation and treatment-naïve children, raises the suspicion of poor sensitivity related to general questionnaires and biases introduced by caregiver’s perceptions. Conclusions: Validation of specific disease-related questionnaires and, whenever possible, the application of child report questionnaires, would be paramount to fully elucidate the disease and treatment effects, guiding more effective and tailored therapeutic approaches.
Filipe Gouveia-Moraes is a Ophthalmologist in Garcia de Orta Hospital, Portugal.