Predicting results in the orthoptic treatment of accommodative dysfunction.

A retrospective analysis of the records of 114 orthoptic patients diagnosed as having accommodative dysfunction (accommodative insufficiency, fatigue of accommodation, infacility of accommodation, or spasm of accommodation) has allowed the construction of models of the results of orthoptic treatment. Discriminant analysis completed on various samples of the group provides linearized discriminant functions for the success of the treatment (either total or partial/none) and for the change in accommodative amplitude. These data indicate that linearized discriminant functions using the age and AC/A ratio of the patient are effective in postpredicting the success category of 60% of a calibration sample of 99 patients. Similar functions using the patient's age, initial accommodative amplitude, and blur value of the near positive vergences allow the postprediction of the category of change in accommodative amplitude with treatment (3 D or more vs. 2 D or less). Seventy-eight percent of a sample of 68 patients were correctly classified. The application of these models in predicting the results of treatment of similarly afflicted subjects is discussed.