title: Effect of strabismus surgery on the reading ability of school-age children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate if strabismus surgery on children between the ages 5 and 14 years leads to an improvement in reading ability by comparing reading performance of patients before and after surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and postoperatively, the visual acuity, ocular alignment, and stereoacuity of 15 children with horizontal strabismus was recorded. The "3-Minute Reading Assessments: Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension" for the appropriate age-group were used to assess children between the ages of 5 and 14 years. Thirteen of the 15 children presented with esotropic deviation, and the remaining 2 were exotropic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Postoperatively, 12 patients were orthophoric and 3 had significant residual esotropia. The 15 patients had an average improvement in reading speed (10.3 words per minute), accuracy (4%), and fluency (2 points). For the 12 orthophoric patients, reading speed increased by 12.2 (P = .003), accuracy by 3% (P = .064), and fluency by 1.33 (P = .006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Corrective strabismus surgery in school-age children showed an early improvement in reading ability that could translate into better academic performance. Our results suggest that reading ability could be an important factor when considering corrective surgery for children with strabismus.
authors.affiliation: Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA fridha@neomed.edu.
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ridha
authors.affiliation: Miami University, Miami, FL.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarac
authors.affiliation: Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA Eye Care Associates, Inc, Youngstown, OH, USA Humility of Mary Health Partners, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Youngstown, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Sergul A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Erzurum
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000601:surgery*; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011184:Postoperative Period; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012574:Schools; D013285:Strabismus / Q000601:surgery*; D013334:Students; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Strabismus; reading; strabismus surgery