Children's developing awareness of ptosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the presence of negative attitudes towards ptosis in young children, and children’s visual perception of faces with ptosis.
IRAS ID
247057
Contact name
Emily Leathers-Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Clinical Trials and Research Governance
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Not yet known, A lay summary of the research will be agreed and published on the HRA website
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study seeks to explore children’s developing awareness of a specific eye condition, called ptosis. Ptosis is defined as the drooping of the eyelid.
Two separate groups of participants will be recruited for the study. Phase 1 will involve the recruitment of NHS patients with ptosis who will be invited to have their photograph taken for use in the materials. Phase 2 will involve the recruitment of children from nurseries and primary schools who will participate in the testing phase.
Firstly, we are interested in whether the faces of children with ptosis are looked at differently than the faces of children without ptosis. Participants in Phase 2 will be approximately 130 children, aged 3 years to 6 years 11 months, from nurseries and schools in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. We will use eye-tracking technology on a laptop to see how children without an eye condition look at photographs of children with and without ptosis. This will take a maximum of 5 minutes. The results may help us understand if children with an eye condition have a different experience in social interactions.
Secondly, we are interested in how children respond towards peers with ptosis and whether this influences who they chose to play with. Using a laptop, we will show the same group of participants photographs of children with and without ptosis and ask them to make social choices. This will take a maximum of 3 minutes. The results may help us to work with surgeons to make decisions about the best timing of corrective surgery for children with ptosis, to make sure it doesn’t impact on their developing friendships.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0249
Date of REC Opinion
3 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion