Who is sponsoring this study?
What is convergence insufficiency?
Convergence insufficiency is an eye-teaming problem in which the eyes have a strong tendency to drift outward when reading or doing close work. If the eyes do drift out, the person has double vision. To prevent double vision, the individual must exert extra effort to make the eyes turn back in. This extra effort can lead to a number of annoying symptoms that can interfere with the ability to read and work comfortably at near.
What are the symptoms associated with convergence insufficiency?
People who have convergence insufficiency may complain of the following when reading or doing close work like playing hand-held video games or doing needlepoint:
- eyestrain and headaches
- inability to concentrate
- short attention span
- frequent loss of place
- rubbing or closing an eye
- blur
- sleepiness
- trouble remembering what was read
- words move, jump, swim or appear to float on the page
How common is convergence insufficiency?
Convergence insufficiency affects approximately 5 out of every 100 children and adults.
What is known about treating convergence insufficiency?
There are several approaches doctors use to treat convergence insufficiency. Treatments can be categorized as active or passive treatment. Active treatments includes pencil push-ups, more extensive home-based convergence treatment, and vision therapy/orthoptics. Passive treatments includes base-in prism, reading glasses, and in some cases, extraocular muscle surgery.
Who will decide what treatment group I/my child gets?
For participants who choose to take part in the study, treatment will be decided at random by a computer. This is similar to flipping a coin to decide which treatment will be used. Neither the participant nor the doctor can choose which treatment is received. Any participant has the same chance of receiving one of the four treatments. A participant will not be told which of the office-based treatments he/she receives until the end of the study when all active participants have completed the 12 month follow-up appointment.
How long will I/my child be in the study?
The study will last a total of about 15 months. The visit schedule is about the same that a patient with convergence insufficiency would receive if he or she were not part of this study.
What are the risks of participating in the study?
The risks associated with the treatments are the same whether a patient has treatment as part of the study or not. For each treatment these could be a possible increase in symptoms such as headaches or eyestrain. There are no known serious or long-lasting risks.
Who is sponsoring this study?
The study is funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI). The NEI is a part of the National Institutes of Health, which is the federal government branch that funds medical research. The NEI has reviewed this study to make sure that the science is good.
