Dataset Information

An action video game for the treatment of amblyopia in children: A feasibility study.

ABSTRACT: The gold-standard treatment for childhood amblyopia remains patching or penalizing the fellow eye, resulting in an average of about a one line (0.1?logMAR) improvement in visual acuity following ?120?h of patching in children 3-8?years old. However, compliance with patching and other treatment options is often poor. In contrast, fast-paced action video games can be highly engaging, and have been shown to yield broad-based improvements in vision and attention in adult amblyopia. Here, we pilot-tested a custom-made action video game to treat children with amblyopia. Twenty-one (n?=?21) children (mean age 9.95?±?3.14 [se]) with unilateral amblyopia (n?=?12 anisometropic and n?=?9 strabismic) completed 20?h of game play either monocularly, with the fellow eye patched (n?=?11), or dichoptically, with reduced contrast to the fellow eye (n?=?10). Participants were assessed for visual acuity (VA), stereo acuity and reading speed at baseline, and following 10 and 20?h of play. Additional exploratory analyses examined improvements after 6-10?weeks of completion of training (follow-up). Following 20?h of training, VA improved, on average, by 0.14?logMAR (?38%) for the dichoptic group and by 0.06?logMAR (?15%) for the monocular group. Similarly, stereoacuity improved by 0.07?log arcsec (?17%) following dichoptic training, and by 0.06?log arcsec (?15%) following monocular training. Across both treatment groups, 7 of the 12 individuals with anisometropic amblyopia showed improvement in stereoacuity, whereas only 1 of the 9 strabismic individuals improved. Most improvements were largely retained at follow-up. Our feasibility study therefore suggests that the action video game approach may be used as an effective adjunct treatment for amblyopia in children, achieving results similar to those of the gold-standard treatment in shorter duration.

SUBMITTER: Gambacorta C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5984723 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An action video game for the treatment of amblyopia in children: A feasibility study.

Gambacorta Christina C Nahum Mor M Vedamurthy Indu I Bayliss Jessica J Jordan Josh J Bavelier Daphne D Levi Dennis M DM

Vision research 20180512

The gold-standard treatment for childhood amblyopia remains patching or penalizing the fellow eye, resulting in an average of about a one line (0.1 logMAR) improvement in visual acuity following ≈120 h of patching in children 3-8 years old. However, compliance with patching and other treatment options is often poor. In contrast, fast-paced action video games can be highly engaging, and have been shown to yield broad-based improvements in vision and attention in adult amblyopia. Here, we pilot-te ...[more]

PMID: 29709618

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Project description:ImportanceBinocular amblyopia treatment using contrast-rebalanced stimuli showed promise in laboratory studies and requires clinical trial investigation in a home-based setting.ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of a binocular video game with a placebo video game for improving visual functions in older children and adults.Design, setting, and participantsThe Binocular Treatment of Amblyopia Using Videogames clinical trial was a multicenter, double-masked, randomized clinical trial. Between March 2014 and June 2016, 115 participants 7 years and older with unilateral amblyopia (amblyopic eye visual acuity, 0.30-1.00 logMAR; Snellen equivalent, 20/40-20/200) due to anisometropia, strabismus, or both were recruited. Eligible participants were allocated with equal chance to receive either the active or the placebo video game, with minimization stratified by age group (child, age 7 to 12 years; teenager, age 13 to 17 years; and adult, 18 years and older).InterventionsFalling-blocks video games played at home on an iPod Touch for 1 hour per day for 6 weeks. The active video game had game elements split between eyes with a dichoptic contrast offset (mean [SD] initial fellow eye contrast, 0.23 [0.14]). The placebo video game presented identical images to both eyes.Main outcomes and measuresChange in amblyopic eye visual acuity at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included compliance, stereoacuity, and interocular suppression. Participants and clinicians who measured outcomes were masked to treatment allocation.ResultsOf the 115 included participants, 65 (56.5%) were male and 83 (72.2%) were white, and the mean (SD) age at randomization was 21.5 (13.6) years. There were 89 participants (77.4%) who had prior occlusion. The mean (SD) amblyopic eye visual acuity improved 0.06 (0.12) logMAR from baseline in the active group (n = 56) and 0.07 (0.10) logMAR in the placebo group (n = 59). The mean treatment difference between groups, adjusted for baseline visual acuity and age group, was -0.02 logMAR (95% CI, -0.06 to 0.02; P = .25). Compliance with more than 25% of prescribed game play was achieved by 36 participants (64%) in the active group and by 49 (83%) in the placebo group. At 6 weeks, 36 participants (64%) in the active group achieved fellow eye contrast greater than 0.9 in the binocular video game. No group differences were observed for any secondary outcomes. Adverse effects included 3 reports of transient asthenopia.Conclusions and relevanceThe specific home-based binocular falling-blocks video game used in this clinical trial did not improve visual outcomes more than the placebo video game despite increases in fellow eye contrast during game play. More engaging video games with considerations for compliance may improve effectiveness.Trial registrationanzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12613001004752.

Project description:Abnormal visual experience during a sensitive period of development disrupts neuronal circuitry in the visual cortex and results in abnormal spatial vision or amblyopia. Here we examined whether playing video games can induce plasticity in the visual system of adults with amblyopia. Specifically 20 adults with amblyopia (age 15-61 y; visual acuity: 20/25-20/480, with no manifest ocular disease or nystagmus) were recruited and allocated into three intervention groups: action videogame group (n?=?10), non-action videogame group (n?=?3), and crossover control group (n?=?7). Our experiments show that playing video games (both action and non-action games) for a short period of time (40-80 h, 2 h/d) using the amblyopic eye results in a substantial improvement in a wide range of fundamental visual functions, from low-level to high-level, including visual acuity (33%), positional acuity (16%), spatial attention (37%), and stereopsis (54%). Using a cross-over experimental design (first 20 h: occlusion therapy, and the next 40 h: videogame therapy), we can conclude that the improvement cannot be explained simply by eye patching alone. We quantified the limits and the time course of visual plasticity induced by video-game experience. The recovery in visual acuity that we observed is at least 5-fold faster than would be expected from occlusion therapy in childhood amblyopia. We used positional noise and modelling to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying the visual improvements in terms of decreased spatial distortion (7%) and increased processing efficiency (33%). Our study had several limitations: small sample size, lack of randomization, and differences in numbers between groups. A large-scale randomized clinical study is needed to confirm the therapeutic value of video-game treatment in clinical situations. Nonetheless, taken as a pilot study, this work suggests that video-game play may provide important principles for treating amblyopia, and perhaps other cortical dysfunctions.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01223716.

Project description:Importance:Fellow eye patching has long been the standard treatment for amblyopia, but it does not always restore 20/20 vision or teach the eyes to work together. Amblyopia can be treated with binocular games that rebalance contrast between the eyes so that a child may overcome suppression. However, it is unclear whether binocular treatment is comparable to patching in treating amblyopia. Objectives:To assess the effectiveness of a binocular iPad (Apple Inc) adventure game as amblyopia treatment and compare this binocular treatment with patching, the current standard of care. Design, Setting, and Participants:This investigation was a randomized clinical trial with a crossover design at a nonprofit eye research institute. Between February 20, 2015, and January 4, 2016, a total of 28 patients were enrolled in the study, with 14 randomized to binocular game treatment and 14 to patching treatment. Interventions:Binocular game and patching as amblyopia treatments. Main Outcomes and Measures:The primary outcome was change in amblyopic eye best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at the 2-week visit. Secondary outcomes were change in stereoacuity and suppression at the 2-week visit and change in BCVA at the 4-week visit. Results:Among 28 children, the mean (SD) age at baseline was 6.7 (1.4) years (age range, 4.6-9.5 years), and 7 (25%) were female. At baseline, the mean (SD) amblyopic eye BCVA was 0.48 (0.14) logMAR (approximately 20/63; range, 0.3-0.8 logMAR [20/40 to 20/125]), with 14 children randomized to the binocular game and 14 to patching for 2 weeks. At the 2-week visit, improvement in amblyopic eye BCVA was greater with the binocular game compared with patching, with a mean (SD) improvement of 0.15 (0.08) logMAR (mean [SD], 1.5 [0.8] lines) vs 0.07 (0.08) logMAR (mean [SD], 0.7 [0.8] line; P?=?.02) after 2 weeks of treatment. These improvements from baseline were significant for the binocular game (mean [SD] improvement, 1.5 [0.8] lines; P?<?.001) and for patching (mean [SD] improvement, 0.7 [0.8] line; P?=?.006). Depth of suppression improved from baseline at the 2-week visit for the binocular game (mean [SD], 4.82 [2.82] vs 3.24 [2.87]; P?=?.03) and for patching (mean [SD], 4.77 [3.10] vs 2.57 [1.67]; P?=?.004). Patching children crossed over to binocular game treatment, and all 28 children played the game for another 2 weeks. At the 4-week visit, no group difference was found in BCVA change, with children who crossed over to the binocular games catching up with children treated with binocular games, for a mean (SD) improvement of 0.17 (0.10) logMAR (mean [SD], 1.7 [1.0] lines) for the binocular game vs a mean (SD) improvement of 0.16 (0.12) logMAR (mean [SD], 1.6 [1.2] lines) for the patching crossover (P?=?.73). Conclusions and Relevance:A binocular iPad game was effective in treating childhood amblyopia and was more efficacious than patching at the 2-week visit. Binocular games that rebalance contrast to overcome suppression are a promising additional option for treating amblyopia. Trial Registration:clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02365090.

Dataset Information

An action video game for the treatment of amblyopia in children: A feasibility study.

Publications

An action video game for the treatment of amblyopia in children: A feasibility study.

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