Visual Acuity Before and After Occlusion Therapy in Children and Adolescents (Aged 5-13 years) Amblyopia

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of occlusion therapy on visual acuity in children and adolescents (aged 5-13 years) with amblyopia. Methods: This experimental study followed a pretest-posttest design. Totally, 72 people with amblyopic eyes (visual acuity between 20/100 and 20/25) were selected through convenient sampling. The visual acuity was assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months after starting occlusion therapy. The recognition of 2 lines on the Snellen chart was used as treatment success. Results: In this study, 35 eyes with amblyopia were male (48.6%) and 37 were female (51.4%). The mean age (SD) was 7.77 (2) years and the success rates of treatment at 1, 3, 6 months after occlusion therapy was 61.1% (44 children), 95.8% (69 children), and 97.2% (70 children), respectively. Based on the findings of this study, there was no correlation between occlusion theory success and gender at different follow-up months. Also, there was no significant difference between the age groups of 5-9 and 10-13 years old in terms of the success of occlusion therapy. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, occlusion therapy in people aged 5-13 was successful. The success rate of treatment was similar in age groups of 5-9 and 10-13 years old. Therefore, it can be concluded that preschool children missing the opportunity for amblyopia treatment can still benefit from occlusion therapy in later years.