The Relation Of Sibling Spectacle Wear To Childhood Malingering Rates.

Will five to sixteen-year-old chi ldren with one or more siblings who wear glasses be more likely to malinger than five to sixteen year old children without any siblings who wear glasses? This was the question addressed by the study. The overall malingering rate was also determined. Research subjects were determined by children presenting for ocular examination at the Michigan College of Optometry clinic whose parent or guardian signed the consent on the back ofthe history form Each child was identified as part of the group in which one or more siblings wear glasses or else part of the control group in which no siblings wear glasses. This was accomplished during a routine case history in an ocular examination. A normal eye examination was performed and any signs of malingering were noted by the examiner and later recorded on a research recording form, as well as the group to which the child belonged. Gender and date of birth of the patient, date of the exam and name ofthe examiner were also recorded to ensure that no child was counted more than once during the research period. At the end of the one-year data-gathering period, results were placed in a 2 x 2 table and a chi- squared analysis was performed to determine any level of significant difference between groups. Overall malingering rates in the sample population were also addressed. The results showed a statistically significant difference (p= 0.05) between the group whose siblings wore glasses and the group whose siblings did not wear glasses. In addition, the overall malingering rate in the sample population was 15 .66%, with the females having a higher malingering rate than the males at 17 50% versus 13.95%.
These results show that malingering is a relatively common occurrence in the pediatric
population and that factors such as sibling spectacle wear may influence a child to malinger.