Effect of curfew from the COVID-19 pandemic on amblyopia treatment in children in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Amblyopia was defined as a reduction in the best-corrected visual acuity in one or both eyes with the presence of amblyogenic factors. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of curfews resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on amblyopia treatment in children. DESIGN: A prospective longitudinal study. METHODS: The study was conducted in pediatric ophthalmology clinics at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Children aged 3–9 years who underwent amblyopia treatment from September 2020 to May 2021 were recruited. Visual acuity data were collected from the subjects’ record files for the first visits prior to the curfew and from the clinics for the second visits after the curfew had ended. RESULTS: A total of 97 children with amblyopia (strabismic, anisometropic, mixed, and visual deprivation) were included. In all, 15 children did not attend the clinic for follow-up visits after the outbreak of COVID-19. The follow-up visits for most of the participants took place 4–5 months after the first visit. No significant difference in visual acuity in the amblyopic eye was found between the first and second visits (p > 0.05). No significant correlation was noted between the baseline difference in visual acuity at the first and second visits and the duration of the amblyopia treatment between the two visits. The adjusted model shows a variation of 0.18% according to the duration between the two visits. CONCLUSION: The findings showed no significant difference in visual acuity in amblyopic eyes between the first and second visits (before and after the COVID-19 curfew), although visual acuity was clinically improved.