A Clinical Trial For Near Versus Distance Activities While Patching For Anisometropic Amblyopia

Objective:To compare the effect of patching therapy for amblyopia when performing near or distance activities.Methods:It was a prospective randomized clinical trial.77 eyes of 77 untreated patients with unilateral mild or moderate amblyopia due to anisometropia were enrolled from the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University.All patients which were randomized to two groups,wore optimal spectacle based on a cycloplegic refraction using 1%atropine sulfate eye gel and performed 2 hours of daily patching.Near activities group(Group1)administered near activities when patching,while distance activities group(Group2)performing distance activities when patching.Subsequent visits were scheduled at 2w,4w,8w and 12w.The best corrected distance visual acuity were recorded before and after treatment,and were transformed into logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution when statistical analysis.Patients`parents should writing daily treatment record honestly within 12 weeks of treatment.Finally there were 73 eyes of 77 patients completed the whole treatment.The visual acuity outcome and effect of treatment were assessed using independent t-test,paired t-test and chi-square test.Results:In near activities group(Group1),the mean best corrected LogMAR visual acuity was(0.421±0.137)before treatment and was(0.249±0.116)after treatment.In distance activities group(Group2),the mean best corrected distance LogMAR visual acuity of pretreatment was(0.465±0.145),and of posttreatment was(0.311±0.111).There was statistically difference of the best corrected distance visual acuity between before and after treatment in both Group1 and Group2.The difference of the best corrected distance LogMAR visual acuity of posttreatment between two groups had statistical significance(t=-2.354,P<0.05).The effective rate of near activities group(Group1)is72.97%and 47.22%in distance activities group(Group2),within which had statistical significance(?~2=5.053,P<0.05).Conclusion:Two hours of daily patching is effective when treating mild or moderate anisometropic amblyopia.Performing near activities while patching have better visual acuity outcome and higher effective rate than distance activities when treat amblyopia.