Binocular Occlu-tab Training in Patients with Ametropic Amblyopia: A Retrospective Study
Abstract
Purpose: Although previous studies have reported favorable outcomes of Occlu-tab therapy for anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia, its effectiveness for bilateral ametropic amblyopia has not been well documented. This study evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness of Occlu-tab training applied to both eyes in children with bilateral ametropic amblyopia. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study included 25 children with bilateral ametropic amblyopia (best-corrected visual acuity ≤0.8 in both eyes) treated at the NAZAR Eye Center (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) between September 2024 and February 2025. The eye with better visual acuity, as assessed at the initial visit, was defined as the better eye and the fellow eye as the worse eye. All patients received refractive correction and initiated Occlu-tab training at the first visit. Occlu-tab training was performed for 10 minutes per eye per day (20 minutes total for both eyes), 10 times per month, for 6 months. Visual acuity was assessed at baseline (0 months; 0 M) and at 1 M, 3 M, and 6 M. Changes in visual acuity over time were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: The mean patient age was 7.96 ± 1.30 years. In the worse eye, mean visual acuity (LogMAR) was 0.32 ± 0.17 at 0 M, 0.28 ± 0.15 at 1 M, 0.22 ± 0.12 at 3 M, and 0.19 ± 0.11 at 6 M (p < 0.001). In the better eye, mean visual acuity was 0.26 ± 0.15 at 0 M, 0.24 ± 0.14 at 1 M, 0.19 ± 0.13 at 3 M, and 0.15 ± 0.11 at 6 M (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Over the 6-month treatment period, Occlu-tab training applied to both eyes was associated with significant visual acuity improvement in children with bilateral ametropic amblyopia. These findings suggest that Occlu-tab therapy may improve in visual acuity in patients with bilateral ametropic amblyopia.