Saudi Children's Perception of Strabismus: A Hospital-Based Study.

Purpose: Children with strabismus may face difficulties interacting with their peers in elementary school. This study investigates the psychosocial effect of different types of strabismus on Saudi children's selection of a playmate.

Methods: Photographs of orthotropic children were digitally modified to simulate various magnitudes of strabismus. Orthotropic children with normal visual acuity viewed 18 sets of paired photographs and were asked to choose a playmate from each pair. Parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their socioeconomic background and to determine whether surgery should be indicated in strabismic patients for psychosocial reasons. Parents were also asked to rate their perception of seven personal characteristics of two images of the same child (one orthotropic and one strabismic).

Results: Two hundred and thirty-three children, aged 3-15 years (mean age: 9.94 [3.6] years), were studied. Children aged ≤6 years were significantly more likely not to distinguish between orthotropic children and those with strabismus ( < 0.001). Out of 233 participants, 69.6% were significantly in favor of orthotropic faces as opposed to 30.4% ( < 0.0001). Children perceived esotropia as less disturbing than exotropia and hypertropia ( < 0.001). Smaller magnitudes of strabismus were significantly preferred over larger angles ( < 0.001). Parents judged strabismic faces more negatively than orthotropic faces on all seven characteristics. Almost 88.4% of the adults thought that strabismic patients should undergo surgery for correction.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that children with apparent strabismus are perceived negatively and might be subjected to social alienation at a young age. Therefore, there is a need for strategies to address negative social bias toward children with strabismus and to enhance their peer acceptance in our society.