Eye-related quality of life among children with deprivation amblyopia after cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To evaluate eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL) and functional vision in children with deprivation amblyopia due to pediatric cataracts and to assess the impact on their parents.

METHODS

In this prospective cross-sectional study, the Pediatric Eye Questionnaire (PedEyeQ) was used to assess 53 children aged 0-11 years with a history of visually significant unilateral or bilateral cataracts and 182 age-similar controls with normal vision. Parents completed the Proxy and Parent PedEyeQ; children 5-11 years of age completed the Child PedEyeQ. Rasch-calibrated domain scores were scaled from 0 to 100 (higher scores indicate better ER-QOL). Groups were compared using independent t tests with Bonferroni correction and by comparing proportions falling below established normal thresholds.

RESULTS

Children with deprivation amblyopia had significantly lower scores than controls across all child, proxy, and parent domains (all P ≤ 0.0003). Parents reported the greatest impairment in worry about their child's eye condition, proxies reported the lowest scores for functional vision, and children (5-11 years of age) reported the lowest scores for frustration and worry about their eyes. Parent and proxy scores frequently fell below normal thresholds (83%-94% and 58%-89%, resp.), whereas few child self-reports (3%) were subnormal. Domain scores did not differ by laterality, cataract type, or severity of visual acuity deficit.

CONCLUSIONS

Deprivation amblyopia due to pediatric cataracts is associated with substantial reductions in ER-QOL and functional vision for children and a pronounced psychosocial burden for parents, highlighting the importance of addressing broader quality-of-life impact in clinical care.