Investigation of the effect of different eye exercises on hypermetropia in school-aged children: A randomized single-blind trial

Abstract

To investigate the effect of different eye exercises on hypermetropia in school-aged children and to determine whether exercise protocols have superiority to each other. 60 hypermetropia school-aged children were randomly assigned to three groups: Bates Exercise Group (BEG), Convergence Exercise Group (CEG) and Oculo-Motor Exercise Group (OMEG). Outcome measures included sciascopy, Snellen chart and The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0(PedsQI4.0). All three groups were given home exercises which warranted eye exercises twice a day, repeated 10 times daily for 6 weeks. CEG showed a statistically significant effect on visual acuity for the right and left eye (p=0.004, p=0.014, respectively) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (p<0.05). In the OMEG, there was a statistically significant effect on visual acuity for the left eye (p=0.011) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (p<0.05). Conclusion: Eye exercises, especially those such as convergence and oculomotor exercises could be reliably performed for the treatment of hypermetropia in school-aged children.