Glances and stares: Validating the feelings of patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy. (September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morgante, James D; Hwang, Catherine J; Chokron-Garneau, Helene; Steinsapir, Kenneth; Goldberg, Robert; Carvalho Pereira, Jorge M; Johnson, Scott P
• Is Part Of: British journal of visual impairment. Volume 35:Number 3(2017:Sep.)
• Page Start: 211
• Page End: 216
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Subjects: Attention -- eye tracking -- Graves' ophthalmopathy -- self-concept -- surgical rehabilitation; People with visual disabilities -- Periodicals; Blind -- Periodicals; Vision disorders -- Periodicals; Blindness -- Periodicals; People with visual disabilities -- Services for -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Blind -- Services for -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 362.4105
• DOI: 10.1177/0264619617706101
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-6196

Abstract

This investigation was aimed at validating the feelings of patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO), who commonly report psychosocial impairments due to the cosmetic disfigurement caused by the disease. In all, 50 adults, equally divided between two experimental conditions, participated. Adults' visual behavior was recorded with a corneal reflection eye-tracking system as they viewed side-by-side photograph pairings of affected and non-affected individuals' upper facial region. Adults in Experiment 1 viewed photographs of patients before corrective surgery and those in Experiment 2 viewed photographs of patients after corrective surgery. Visual behavior measures of interest included the number of stares and cumulative time spent staring. Adults appear to differentially attend to patients with TAO, staring more often and longer at these individuals, regardless of surgical correction. TAO patients' feeling of self-consciousness and being more concerned about their appearance may be due to differential persistence of fixations (i.e. staring) from their peers.