Associations of strabismus surgery timing in childhood with mental health: a retrospective cohort study

Purpose: To investigate the incidence of psychiatric diagnoses in relation to strabismus surgery timing among children with an early strabismus diagnosis who underwent surgery in childhood. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX network data from 2003-2023 on patients diagnosed with strabismus at ≤5 years of age and having strabismus surgery before 18 years of age. Cohort 1 comprised patients who underwent initial strabismus surgery at ≤6 years of age; cohort 2, patients with initial surgical intervention at ≥7 years of age. Incidence of mental health diagnoses from 7 until 18 years of age were compared between cohorts. Results: In cohort 1, 59 of 688 patients (8.6%) of patients were diagnosed with at least 1 mental health disorder versus 123 of 693 patients (17.7%) in cohort 2 (risk ratio [RR] = 2.07; 95% CI, 1.546 to 2.77; P < 0.0001). Gender analysis showed that only males had a statistically significant increased rate of mental health diagnoses in cohort 2 versus cohort 1 (RR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.284 to 2.577; P = 0.006). An increased risk for specific psychiatric diagnoses was found in cohort 2 versus cohort 1; anxiety disorders (RR = 2.19; 95% CI, 1.225-3.922; P = 0.0065), attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (RR = 2.18; 95% CI, 1.499-3.175; P < 0.0001), conduct disorders (RR = 2.81; 95% CI, 1.425-5.556; P = 0.0018), and adjustment disorders (RR = 2.07; 955% CI, 1.103-3.876; P = 0.0204). Depressive disorders showed no statistically significant difference between cohorts (RR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.419-2.392; P = 0.9974). Conclusions: Compared with children having early strabismus surgery, those having surgery at a later age after an early strabismus diagnosis at ≤5 years of age may be more likely to experience a mental health disorder during childhood, although it is unclear whether such disorders are a result of delayed surgery or a driver of the decision to opt for surgery rather than continued conservative management.