Abstract
BackgroundParents can be psychologically impacted when their children are diagnosed with eye diseases, such as blindness, strabismus, and eye cancer. Stress can reduce the quality of parental care and may be linked to the deterioration of parents’ and children’s mental and physical health and family dynamics. No systematic literature review on parental stress in ophthalmology has been found to provide evidence synthesis capable of stimulating and defining new studies and thereby promoting research in this field. To address this important gap, the present review aims to synthesize evidence about approaches, methods, instruments, and results from research regarding ophthalmology-related parental stress.MethodsPrimary epidemiological observational studies should be original in addressing parental stress caused by ophthalmological health conditions in children. They should present the characteristics of the study population and the clinical and ophthalmic characterizations of children.MEDLINE (via Ovid), EMBASE, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and gray literature (PsycEXTRA, NTIS, and OpenSINGLE) will be searched. Controlled vocabulary, Boolean operators, and defined search strategies will be used. There will be no restrictions on the studies’ publication language, which will be selected in two screening stages. Two reviewers will independently retrieve full-text studies, assess methodological quality, and extract data. Data available through December 2021 will be considered for inclusion.DiscussionThe socioeconomic characterization of the participants, the identification of which ophthalmological diseases have been studied in relation to parental stress, and the knowledge of each instrument and methodology peculiarities potentially contribute to this study. The results may promote the development or enhancement of public policies focused on this specific theme, thereby providing the means for potential improvement of the physical and mental health of parents and children with eye diseases.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42018094972
Highlights
Parents can be psychologically impacted when their children are diagnosed with eye diseases, such as blindness, strabismus, and eye cancer
The socioeconomic characterization of the participants, the identification of which ophthalmological diseases have been studied in relation to parental stress, and the knowledge of each instrument and methodology peculiarities potentially contribute to this study
The results may promote the development or enhancement of public policies focused on this specific theme, thereby providing the means for potential improvement of the physical and mental health of parents and children with eye diseases
Summary
Parents can be psychologically impacted when their children are diagnosed with eye diseases, such as blindness, strabismus, and eye cancer. No systematic literature review on parental stress in ophthalmology has been found to provide evidence synthesis capable of stimulating and defining new studies and thereby promoting research in this field. Souza‐Silva et al Syst Rev (2021) 10:228 communities These children face a lifetime of blindness, which equates to a combined estimated 75 million blind years (blind individuals × life expectancy) [1]. Eye disease may not always lead to low vision or blindness, it can still cause significant parental stress stemming from the processes of diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of vision. In all such cases, parental involvement and understanding are of paramount importance [1]
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