Skip to content

Patch-free Occlusion Therapy

Patch-free Occlusion Therapy

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05440448
Enrollment
68
Registered
2022-06-30
Start date
2024-04-22
Completion date
2028-06-30
Last updated
2026-01-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Amblyopia

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to determine whether a patch-free occlusion therapy leads to better visual outcomes in young children with amblyopia than standard-of-care occlusion therapy with an adhesive patch and whether this is associated with better adherence to the treatment.

Detailed description

This is a single-site randomized clinical trial to compare patch-free occlusion therapy with standard-of-care occlusion therapy with an adhesive patch in young children with amblyopia. Participants will be referred from local pediatric ophthalmologists. Following informed consent, children will complete baseline testing to confirm eligibility and provide pre-treatment measurements of visual acuity, suppression, stereoacuity, motor skills, self-perception, and quality of life. Eligible children will then be randomly allocated to either patch-free occlusion therapy or standard-of-care occlusion therapy with an adhesive patch. Children will participate in their assigned occlusion therapy at home for 12 weeks (primary outcome). Adherence will be objectively monitored with a Theramon sensor. Vision will be re-assessed at 6 weeks and all tests will be repeated at 12 weeks. The patch-free occlusion group will have an option to continue the patch-free occlusion for and additional 6 or 12 weeks (24 weeks total). The standard-of-care occlusion group will be offered the opportunity to use the patch-free treatment at the 12 week visit through 24 weeks. Children who choose to remain in the study beyond the 12 week primary outcome visit will have vision reassessed at 18 and 24 weeks. The primary analysis will be a comparison of improvement in amblyopic eye visual acuity (baseline-12 weeks) between the patch-free occlusion group and the standard-of-care patching group. Secondary analyses will include comparisons adherence to each treatment, comparison of the proportion of children in each group with visual acuity ≤0.1 logMAR (recovered) at 6 and 12 weeks visit and 95% CIs (at 6 and 12 weeks), comparisons of changes in extent of suppression, depth of suppression, stereoacuity, motor skills standard scores, self-perception scores, and PedEyeQ domain scores. Associations among hours of treatment, changes in visual acuity, suppression, and stereoacuity, will be explored and modeled for dose-response relationships. In exploratory analyses, we will examine whether there are additional improvements in visual acuity, suppression, or stereoacuity between 12 and 24 weeks for the patch-free group (12, 18, and 24 weeks means and 95% CIs).

Interventions

DEVICEPatch-free occlusion therapy

Use of filters in glasses to provide occlusion therapy

DEVICEAdhesive patch

Standard-of-care occlusion therapy with an adhesive patch

Sponsors

National Eye Institute (NEI)
CollaboratorNIH
Retina Foundation of the Southwest
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Years to 12 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* 3-12 years * male and female * strabismic, anisometropic, or combined mechanism amblyopia (visual acuity: 0.3-0.8 logMAR) * interocular visual acuity difference ≥0.3 logMAR * wearing glasses (if needed) for a minimum of 8 weeks with no change in visual acuity at 2 visits ≥4 weeks apart * child's ophthalmologist and family willing to forgo standard patching treatment during the study

Exclusion criteria

* Prematurity ≥8 wk * coexisting ocular or systemic disease * developmental delay * myopia \> -3.00D

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in amblyopic eye visual acuity measured with a logMAR visual acuity chart12 weekschange in logMAR relative to baseline

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Adherence to patching or viewing videos with glasses measured with a sensor6 and 12 weekscumulative hours of treatment with the patch or glasses used to watch videos objectively monitored with the skin temperature sensitive Theramon sensor
Proportion of children who have recovered6 and 12 weeksProportion of children who attain amblyopic eye visual acuity of 0.1 logMAR or better
Change in extent of suppression assessed with W4 test6 and 12 weekschanges in log deg measure with W4 test
change in stereoacuity assessed with the Randot Preschool Stereoacuity Test6 and 12 weekschange in log arcsec
Change in amblyopic eye visual acuity measured with a logMAR visual acuity chart6,18, and 24 weekschange in logMAR relative to baseline
Change in self-perception assessed with the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children12 weekschange in domain scores of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (standard scores scaled to range from 0 to 100 for worst to best)
Improvement in quality of life assesses with the Pediatric Eye Questionnaire12 weekschange in domain scores of the Pediatric Eye Questionnaire (PedEyeQ; Rasch-calibrated and scaled to score from 0 to 100 for worst to best)
Change in depth of suppression assessed with the contrast balance index6 and 12 weekschange in contrast balance index (ratio of amblyopic eye to fellow eye contrast needed to overcome suppression
Change in motor skills assessed with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-212 weekschange in Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) standard scores relative to baseline (normed and scaled 0-19 for worst to best, with 10=average, 5-6 = at risk, and \<5 = significant impairment)

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactEileen E Birch, PhD
ebirch@retinafoundation.org2143633911
Backup ContactReed M Jost, MS
reedjost@retinafoundation.org2143633911

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026