Clinical Analysis of 350 Low Vision Patients

ABSTRACT

The number of low vision patients and the demand for low vision rehabilitation are increasing as the life expectancy and visual impairment due to largely untreatable ocular conditions are.It is therefore, imperative to recognize the importance of low vision aids, which have recently been developed actively.To evaluate the efficacy of low vision aids for low vision rehabilitation, we reviewed the clinical records of 350 patients who had visited our low vision clinic more than twice and had been prescribed with low vision aids. According to the data analysed, optic nerve atrophy, macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa were the leading causes of visual impairment in those patients.The purposes to visit our low vision clinic were to read books, read letters on the black board, identify a person at a distance, etc.Hand-held magnifiers, aspheric doublet lens and telemicroscope with plus cap were commonly used for near vision, while Keplerian and Galilean telescope were popular aids for distant vision.Visual acuity after prescription was improved when it was compared with that before prescription.Majority of the patients benefited from attending low vision clinic.These results suggest that the optical low vision aids were required to rehabilitate the visually impaired patients.