Randomized trial of treatment of amblyopia in children aged 7 to 17 years

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of treatment of amblyopia in children aged 7 to 17 years. Methods: At 49 clinical sites, 507 patients with amblyopic eye visual acuity ranging from 20/40 to 20/400 were provided with optimal optical correction and then randomized to a treatment group (2-6 hours per day of prescribed patching combined with near visual activities for all patients plus atropine sulfate for children aged 7 to 12 years) or an optical correction group (optical correction alone). Patients whose amblyopic eye acuity improved 10 or more letters (≥2 lines) by 24 weeks were considered responders. Results: In the 7- to 12-year-olds (n = 404), 53% of the treatment group were responders compared with 25% of the optical correction group (P