Bibliometric mapping of current therapies for children and adolescents with a functional visual disorder (FVD)

Children and adolescents with a functional neurological disorder (such as functional visual disorder [FVD]) experience a lower psychological quality of life with more mental health problems than healthy controls. While there is ample research about functional neurological disorder in general, there is also a general lack of research concerning FVD and the effectiveness of treatments given to children and adolescents suffering from it. Our aim was to provide a visual overview of common topics concerning treatments of children and adolescents with an FVD. VOSviewer is a programme that extracts information (terms) from the titles and abstracts of articles to generate bibliometric networks. The results show that common subject terms are paediatrics and children. The common diagnostic terms include conversion disorder, hysterical vision disturbance, somatoform disorders, hysterical disorders, and functional (psychogenic) visual loss. Common therapeutic terms are suggestion therapy, brief psychotherapy, hypnosis, psychiatry, therapeutic processes, and suggestibility. The results give insight into the treatments that children and adolescents with FVD currently receive. We also provide directions for future studies into the treatment of FVD in children and adolescents.