Abstract
Purposes:To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) in Chinese children with intermittent exotropia (IXT) before and after strabismus surgery.Patients and Methods: The records of children with IXT who underwent strabismus surgery at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, of Sun Yat-sen University, China over the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. All children underwent ophthalmic and orthoptic examinations including the prism and alternate cover test, fusion function by synoptophore, stereoacuity and Newcastle control score. With use of the Intermittent Exotropia Questionnaire (IXTQ), the pre- and post-operative HRQOL and pre-operative HADS were assessed within these children and their parents.Results: A total of 389 children were eligible for inclusion (47.8% male, 52.2% female, mean + SD age = 8.17 ± 2.81). Pre-operative IXTQ scores in both children and their parents were significantly correlated with near stereoacuity (P = 0.029 and P = 0.015, respectively). The angle of deviation at near vision showed a negative linear relationship with visual function (P = 0.026) and psychological (P = 0.019) scores and opinions regarding surgery(P = 0.024). HADS scores were also related with near stereoacuity (P < 0.05). After surgery, both children’s and parents’ IXTQs significantly improved (p༜0.01). Children’ IXTQ scores were related to the angle of deviation at distance and their psychological and visual function scores showed a negative relationship with the angle of deviation at near vision (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Children and parents HRQOL and HADS were associated with near stereoacuity. Parents usually attend more readily to the angle of deviation at near in their IXT children. HRQOL improved significantly after surgery and can be used as one of the indices for pre-operative evaluation, but is not recommended as a criteria for surgical intervention.These first two authors contributed equally to this work
Symptoms in Children with Intermittent Exotropia and Their Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life
