To investigate the clinical courses of children with functional visual loss and to evaluate their psychosocial problems.

Thirteen children who visited the ophthalmic clinic of Dankook University Hospital because of functional vision loss between August 1, 2005 and January 1, 2009 were examined to establish the cause of lost vision. The results of the child behavior checklist-Korean version (K-CBCL) and the Korean personality inventory for children (KPI-C) were obtained in nine out of the 13 children.

The mean visual acuities at the initial and last visits for nine children in the functional visual loss group were 0.58 ± 0.28 and 0.89 ± 0.31, respectively. Somatic complaints, social problems and overall behavioral problems were statistically significantly different from those of the control group according to the K-CBCL, and somatic concern was statistically significantly different from that of the control group according to the KPI-C.

Children in the functional visual loss group had different traits from those in the control group according to the K-CBCL and KPI-C. Children's psychosocial problems could be expressed as somatic symptoms, of which vision loss should be considered a major factor.