Prospective Comparison of Convergence Insufficiency and Normal Binocular Children on CIRS Symptom Surveys

PURPOSE: To test the validity-related evidence of a child and a parent symptom survey developed by the Convergence Insufficiency and Reading Study (CIRS) group. METHODS: A case comparison method was used to measure differences in symptoms between 14 school-aged children (ages 8 to 13 years) with Convergence Insufficiency (CI) and 14 children with normal binocular vision (NBV). RESULTS: A pooled t-test indicated that CI children and their parents scored higher than the NBV children and their parents on the child's survey (p<0.001) and parent's survey (p<0.001), respectively. CI children also scored significantly higher (p<0.03) on the Conners' Rating Scale for Parents. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the CIRS symptom survey is a valid instrument for differentiating CI children from those with normal binocular vision. Additionally, children in this age group were able to respond to a broad range of symptom questions associated with CI.