Abstract
Purpose :
People who are visually impaired (VI) have high rates of physical inactivity, and therefore an increased risk of developing diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle. The aim of this study was to determine which traits and external factors can impact physical activity (PA) amongst people with VI.
Methods :
A study with The Physical Activity Barrier Scale (PABS) was conducted with 30 subjects with VI (VIg) recruited in a department of Ophthalmology (HSMM, Portugal). The questionnaire was administered by telephone to the VIg participants and an equal number of age and gender matched controls (CTRLg). The PABS inventory consists of 48 questions, divided into 8 categories. For each question the participant rates how often (never, often, very often) the item is a barrier to PA. Responses were Rasch analysed
using Winsteps (v4.0).
Results :
Acuity (mean±se; logMAR) was 0.70±0.35 (VIg) and 0.00±0.06 (CTRLg). Age in years was 68±16 in both groups. Contrast sensitivity in logCS was 1.34±0.06 (VIg) and 1.68±0.02 (CTRLg). The main cause of VI was diabetic retinopathy. Person measures (PM) in logits for the entire 48 items of PABS were 1.15±0.20 (VIg) and 1.71±0.30 (CTRLg), with a higher score indicating higher ability to PA (less barriers), the difference between groups was not statistically significant. Differences between groups for the 8 categories within the PABS were examined separately using summed scores. Significant differences (Mann-Whitney test) were observed for VISUAL-IMPAIRMENT (p=0.04), SOCIAL-INFLUENCE (p=0.03) and SAFETY (p=0.01).
Conclusions :
People with VI frequently find barriers to PA. Items related to vision, safety and social influence affect people with visual impairment to a greater extent than controls. Barriers to PA should be considered when planning visual rehabilitation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.