An international study on children with amblyopia, or ‘lazy eye’, challenges prevailing wisdom on the treatment of the disorder.

Many countries use an extended period of glasses-wearing before patching. However, new research, published in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine journal, revealed patching sooner, without wearing glasses for a long period, helped to correct amblyopia more effectively in most children, leading to improved vision.

Co-leader of the study Dr Irene Gottlob, professor of neurology at Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, New Jersey, said current treatment outcomes were poor. “We hope that the results of this study could pave the way for more personalised treatment care for children with amblyopia, tailoring the type of treatment to the child.”

The randomised controlled trial included 334 children, aged between three and eight years, in hospitals in Greece, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the UK.