Psychological profile of children with functional visual loss
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The psychological profile of children and young people with medically unexplained visual loss – an exploratory observational cohort study
IRAS ID
188895
Contact name
Annegret Dahlmann-Noor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Moorfields Eye Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The expression 'Medically unexplained visual loss' (MUVL) or functional visual loss is used to describe visual loss in the absence of any detectable lesion of the eyes or the visual pathways. It may constitute 1% of paediatric ophthalmic referrals. MUVL is a conversion disorder, and between 25 and 41% of the affected children may have associated psychological or psychiatric conditions such as anxiety or depression, and 31 to 70% may have social problems at home or at school. Whilst the visual prognosis is excellent, MUVL can take months to resolve, exposing children to prolonged visual dysfunction, and parents/carers to extended periods of anxiety over the child’s wellbeing. Some conversion disorders are known to benefit from interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy.
We propose to carry out a psychological assessment of children and young people presenting with MUVL, using an online self-assessment tool for children and parents/carers, the 'Development and Wellbeing Assessment' (DAWBA). The primary aim of this study is to determine the proportion of children/young people with MUVL who have an associated psychological/psychiatric condition.
We will recruit children/young people age 5-16 years attending the children’s acute (A&E) clinic and general paediatric clinics at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Eye Clinics at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Following consent/assent, we will carry out an assessment for mental health and screen for learning disabilities. We will then ask children and their carers to complete a screening questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire. Those with a high score will then be asked to complete the DAWBA.
We will collect relevant clinical data, participant characteristics and DAWBA scores. Data will be analysed using descriptive statistics.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0512
Date of REC Opinion
3 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion