Visual attention to their own paralytic limbs in children with spina bifida: Measurement of gaze direction using eye tracking

Background Patients with spina bifida experience sensory and motor paralysis and complications in the form of deformation and skin problems of the lower limbs. Enhancing their awareness of the paralysed lesions could be helpful for these patients to prevent secondary disorders. This study sought to investigate to what extent children with spina bifida are visually aware of their body parts and, in particular, to their paralysed lesions. Methods Participants included children with spina bifida (n = 10) and typically developing control children (n = 10) between the ages of 5 and 11 years. All participants were shown still images of themselves on a monitor after which their gaze direction was measured using an eye tracker, with or without providing an instruction to direct their attention to their limbs. The gaze direction data were analyzed and compared between children with spina bifida and the control children. Results Children with spina bifida paid visual attention to their bodies in a manner similar to that of control children. Prompts to direct their attention to their limbs were effective in both groups; however, the degree of efficacy in children with spina bifida was inferior to that in control children. Conclusions Promotion of visual awareness to their paralytic parts could be a reasonable and effective method for children with spina bifida to improve their understanding and recognition of their body and prevent associated skin problems.