Abstract
Purpose: :
A challenge in vision rehabilitation is to document the persisting effects of rehabilitation over time. This research examined subjective report of visual function at initial visit compared to one year after rehabilitation.
Methods: :
As part of a larger study of outcomes of vision rehabilitation, 80 subjects (aged 41-95, mean age: 76.5; 40 female) referred for comprehensive vision rehabilitation at an academic ophthalmology department were administered the Low Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire (LV VFQ) during their initial visit (T1) and one year after the first visit (T2). This measure consists of five subscales, Visual Ability, Reading, Mobility, Visual Information and Visual Motor. All subjects received routine low vision rehabilitation including occupational therapy evaluation and treatment. Inclusion criteria were best corrected visual acuity of <6/12, adequate hearing, cognition, and English language skills to participate in the project.
Results: :
Considering the overall group, improvement at one year was observed on all five subscales. Paired sample t-tests revealed that all subjects had significantly higher scores for the Visual Ability and Reading subscales one year after rehabilitation (t(79)= 3.33, p= .001; t(78)= 3.56, p= .001; respectively). Furthermore, non-parametric tests showed an improvement after one year for the Mobility, Visual Information and Visual Motor subscales (z=-1.96, p=.05; z=-2.178, p=.029; z=-2.08, p=.037, respectively). The largest effect being for reading abilities (M(T1)= 1.03, M(T2)= 1.82). Female gender was associated with greater gain on all subscales. Patients older than 85 years showed similar benefit as did those younger.
Conclusions: :
These results suggest that vision rehabilitation successfully improves visual function after one year as measured by the LVVFQ. Since reading is the most common and significant goal for patients who seek vision rehabilitation, greatest improvement in this domain is of particular note.
Clinical Trial: :
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov 07-02-013
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: outcomes/complications • low vision • reading