FRIDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Children with amblyopia may be more likely than their peers to have poor fine motor skills and a low sense of social acceptance, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Ann Louise Webber, of the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues compared 82 children who had been diagnosed and treated for amblyopia and 37 age-matched controls.
Compared to controls, the researchers found that children with amblyopia had reduced stereoacuity, greater inter-ocular visual acuity differences, and lower scores on 10 of 16 subtests for fine motor skills and for the overall age-standardized scores for both visual-motor control and upper limb speed and dexterity items. They also found that children with amblyopia had lower scores in one self-esteem measure: social acceptance.
"Our finding that children with amblyopia do have poorer fine motor skills and lower perception of social acceptance means that, in addition to treating a child's eye condition, eye care practitioners may be able to advise parents of potential functional consequences," Webber said in a statement.
Abstract
