medRxiv | 2021
Objective adherence to an online FAVAS therapeutic game for treating amblyopia in children
Abstract
Aim: This retrospective study was to evaluate whether an updated version of an attention binding computer therapy game based on the principle of Focal Ambient Visual Acuity Stimulation (FAVAS) would result in an optimized patient adherence of patching in 4- to 12-year-old patients with amblyopia. Methods: We analyzed anonymized electronically recorded data from patients treated with 2 different versions of attention binding computer therapy games regarding the gamefication aspect in 2015 and 2020. Depending on the treatment version, two groups of children treated with patching were compared. Patients in the Group 2015 used the old 1.0 version of therapy games, while Group 2020 used more attractive therapeutic games. Objective adherence was calculated by comparing the amount of minutes using the computer game as monitored in the automatized logbook versus prescribed minutes of using the game. Results: Children in the Group 2015 spent on average 2009.3 (36 to 5472) minutes using FAVAS; children in the Group 2020 spent on average 2695.5 (37.5 to 5672) minutes using the therapy. Meaning, Group 2020 spent 686.2 more minutes than Group 2015 (t=3.87, P<0.001). Although patient adherence was very variable, it significantly improved in the 2020 group up to 78% (+- 46%) compared to the 57% (+- 34%) in the Group 2015 (t=4.3, P<0.001). Conclusion: FAVAS 2020 with an improved gamefication aspect increased adherence significantly compared to the earlier version FAVAS 1.0, indicating that FAVAS could be an effective approach to support patching amblyopia treatment.