Comparison between Amblyopia Treatment with Glasses Only and Combination of Glasses and Open-Type Binocular “Occlu-Pad” Device

We evaluated amblyopia treatment, comparing training with glasses only and training with glasses and the Occlu-pad, a binocular open-type amblyopia training device. Forty-six children (4.8 ± 1.1 years) diagnosed with anisometropic amblyopia, all wearing complete correction glasses, were treated either with glasses only, or with glasses in combination with the Occlu-pad (training time: 2 days a week, 30 minutes per day). We compared visual acuity scores at 3 and 6 months after treatment had started, and examined the compliance rate for the Occlu-pad training. Three months as well as 6 months after amblyopia treatment started, the “Occlu-pad treatment group” showed significantly improved visual acuity, compared to the “Glasses treatment group” (at both 3 and 6 months: p < 0.0001). The compliance rate for using the Occlu-pad was 88.4 ± 18.7% after 3 months and 69.6 ± 19.5%, after 6 months. There was no significant correlation between the training time using the Occlu-pad and improvement in visual acuity (3 months: p = 0.97; 6 months: p = 0.55). The compliance rate for months 4 to 6 was significantly lower than that for months 1 to 3 (p = 0.003). Amblyopia treatment using the Occlu-pad device in combination with glasses led to a better effect than treatment with glasses alone.