Real-world views of patching differ to health professionals’: an online survey of professionals, patients, teachers, parents and carers
Real-world views of patching differ to health professionals’: an online survey of professionals, patients, teachers, parents and carers
Background: patching therapy is the most common treatment for amblyopia (lazy eye) and is unsuccessful for approximately 40% of patients, leaving them with life-long unilateral visual impairment and increased risk of bilateral visual impairment later in life. Poor adherence to patching therapy is a major contributing factor in treatment failure yet we lack real-world understanding as to why this is a problem outside of controlled research studies.
Methods: in collaboration with patient contributors, we developed an online survey for past patients, parents/carers of children with amblyopia, health professionals, and schoolteachers. The survey included questions about when and where is best for children to wear the patch, the design of the patch, and facilitators and barriers to patching therapy.
Results: we received 631 responses to the survey (259 health professionals, 213 parents/carers, 110 people who patched as a child, 7 teachers, and 42 people matched to multiple categories). Healthcare professionals thought weekday (54.4% versus 14.3% preferring weekend and 31.3% no difference) and school (54.4% versus 21.6% preferred home and 23.9% no difference) patching was more successful. Past patients (52.4%) favoured ‘force’ as a technique to encourage patching; more than both health professionals (7.7%) and parents or carers (19.7%). Patients rated ‘people making fun’ of them as an important barrier to patching.
Conclusions: we describe surprising differences in stakeholders’ responses to the survey questions about barriers to successful patching treatment. We suggest these differences are used as a guide for further work to explore stakeholder’s social experience of patching.
Amblyopia, Eye patch, Occlusion therapy, Survey
59-65
Osborne, Daniel
87e230eb-847f-4c58-9e45-1afc57d055e0
McGowen, Maddison
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Bradshaw, Jeremy
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Ellis, Helen
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Evans, Megan
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Stallwood, James
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Fliege, Joerg
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Self, Jay
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29 April 2025
Osborne, Daniel
87e230eb-847f-4c58-9e45-1afc57d055e0
McGowen, Maddison
fea73e6e-55e4-4009-ba5f-51bf453220e1
Bradshaw, Jeremy
ca41934e-b56a-48c9-a96f-d326ce14dcf0
Ellis, Helen
21483f9d-4385-49ce-b365-f2d0984141c0
Evans, Megan
727dc3b0-e752-4ad7-82f6-71321c3b775d
Stallwood, James
bce6878f-2737-47f8-a2e6-27c76ff685de
Fliege, Joerg
e4ecaf7f-e463-4f80-a417-4649d2f4e6d3
Self, Jay
0f6efc58-ae24-4667-b8d6-6fafa849e389
Osborne, Daniel, McGowen, Maddison, Bradshaw, Jeremy, Ellis, Helen, Evans, Megan, Stallwood, James, Fliege, Joerg and Self, Jay
(2025)
Real-world views of patching differ to health professionals’: an online survey of professionals, patients, teachers, parents and carers.
British and Irish Orthoptic Journal, 21 (1), .
(doi:10.22599/bioj.404).
Abstract
Background: patching therapy is the most common treatment for amblyopia (lazy eye) and is unsuccessful for approximately 40% of patients, leaving them with life-long unilateral visual impairment and increased risk of bilateral visual impairment later in life. Poor adherence to patching therapy is a major contributing factor in treatment failure yet we lack real-world understanding as to why this is a problem outside of controlled research studies.
Methods: in collaboration with patient contributors, we developed an online survey for past patients, parents/carers of children with amblyopia, health professionals, and schoolteachers. The survey included questions about when and where is best for children to wear the patch, the design of the patch, and facilitators and barriers to patching therapy.
Results: we received 631 responses to the survey (259 health professionals, 213 parents/carers, 110 people who patched as a child, 7 teachers, and 42 people matched to multiple categories). Healthcare professionals thought weekday (54.4% versus 14.3% preferring weekend and 31.3% no difference) and school (54.4% versus 21.6% preferred home and 23.9% no difference) patching was more successful. Past patients (52.4%) favoured ‘force’ as a technique to encourage patching; more than both health professionals (7.7%) and parents or carers (19.7%). Patients rated ‘people making fun’ of them as an important barrier to patching.
Conclusions: we describe surprising differences in stakeholders’ responses to the survey questions about barriers to successful patching treatment. We suggest these differences are used as a guide for further work to explore stakeholder’s social experience of patching.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 16 April 2025
Published date: 29 April 2025
Keywords:
Amblyopia, Eye patch, Occlusion therapy, Survey
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 505454
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505454
ISSN: 2516-3590
PURE UUID: 04945f66-9c73-4dc5-8521-7c41cacfcce4
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Date deposited: 08 Oct 2025 16:57
Last modified: 09 Oct 2025 01:44
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Contributors
Author:
Daniel Osborne
Author:
Maddison McGowen
Author:
Jeremy Bradshaw
Author:
Helen Ellis
Author:
Megan Evans
Author:
James Stallwood
Author:
Joerg Fliege
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