Effect of low luminance on face recognition in adults with central and peripheral vision loss.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of low luminance on face recognition, specifically facial identity discrimination (FID) and facial expression recognition (FER), in adults with central vision loss (CVL) and peripheral vision loss (PVL) and to explore the association between clinical vision measures and low luminance FID and FER. METHODS: Participants included 33 adults with CVL, 17 with PVL and 20 controls. FID and FER were assessed under photopic and low luminance conditions. For the FID task, 12 sets of three faces with neutral expressions were presented and participants asked to indicate the odd-face-out. For FER, 12 single faces were presented and participants asked to name the expression (neutral, happy or angry). Photopic and low luminance visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) were recorded for all participants and for the PVL group, Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA) 24-2 mean deviation (MD). RESULTS: FID accuracy in CVL, and to a lesser extent PVL, was reduced under low compared with photopic luminance (mean reduction 20% and 8% respectively; p < 0.001). FER accuracy was reduced only in CVL (mean reduction 25%; p < 0.001). For both CVL and PVL, low luminance and photopic VA and CS were moderately to strongly correlated with low luminance FID (ρ = 0.61-0.77, p < 0.05). For PVL, better eye HFA 24-2 MD was moderately correlated with low luminance FID (ρ = 0.54, p = 0.02). Results were similar for low luminance FER. Together, photopic VA and CS explained 75% of the variance in low luminance FID, and photopic VA explained 61% of the variance in low luminance FER. Low luminance vision measures explained little additional variance. CONCLUSION: Low luminance significantly reduced face recognition, particularly for adults with CVL. Worse VA and CS were associated with reduced face recognition. Clinically, photopic VA is a good predictor of face recognition under low luminance conditions.

Optometry students’ perspective on optometry in suburban Western India: A qualitative study

Purpose: Optometry has been an established profession in India for 60 years. Despite this, students who choose this course may have misconceptions and unrealistic expectations about the profession. The goal of this study is to understand the perceptions about optometry among optometry students, prior to and during their studies.MethodsA snap-shot narrative qualitative study using a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was designed to understand the perception of optometry. Optometry students and educators from three suburban colleges were invited to participate. Forty-one participants took part in 24 in-depth interviews and 5 focus groups; of those 32 were undergraduate optometry students and 9 were optometry educators. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed.ResultsThree major themes emerged: retrospective perception of optometry, current perception and strategies to improve awareness level. All the participants mentioned that there was a considerable lack of awareness about optometry in society. None of the students stated that they chose optometry as their first choice of professional education. Most students expressed that they were provided with ample exposure during the curriculum to understand the scope of optometry. Various strategies were recommended to improve the level of awareness of optometry.ConclusionsThe current study highlights the lack of awareness and knowledge of optometry among the students while enrolling in the course. Knowledge about the scope of optometry practice among optometry students improved after extensive education and clinical exposure. Improving the awareness level of the profession will improve the quality of students entering the profession. (AU)

Optometry students' perspective on optometry in suburban Western India: A qualitative study.

PURPOSE: Optometry has been an established profession in India for 60 years. Despite this, students who choose this course may have misconceptions and unrealistic expectations about the profession. The goal of this study is to understand the perceptions about optometry among optometry students, prior to and during their studies. METHODS: A snap-shot narrative qualitative study using a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was designed to understand the perception of optometry. Optometry students and educators from three suburban colleges were invited to participate. Forty-one participants took part in 24 in-depth interviews and 5 focus groups; of those 32 were undergraduate optometry students and 9 were optometry educators. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged: retrospective perception of optometry, current perception and strategies to improve awareness level. All the participants mentioned that there was a considerable lack of awareness about optometry in society. None of the students stated that they chose optometry as their first choice of professional education. Most students expressed that they were provided with ample exposure during the curriculum to understand the scope of optometry. Various strategies were recommended to improve the level of awareness of optometry. CONCLUSIONS: The current study highlights the lack of awareness and knowledge of optometry among the students while enrolling in the course. Knowledge about the scope of optometry practice among optometry students improved after extensive education and clinical exposure. Improving the awareness level of the profession will improve the quality of students entering the profession.

Awareness and knowledge of diabetic retinopathy and associated factors in Goa: A hospital-based cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To assess the awareness and knowledge about diabetic retinopathy (DR) and associated factors among patients visiting the tertiary health center in Goa. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a standard predesigned and pretested closed-ended structured questionnaire to assess the awareness, knowledge, attitude and practice about DR among patients visiting a tertiary health center. Results: Three hundred and fifty-eight subjects participated in the study. Only 125 (34.9% [95% CI: 30.0-40.1]) subjects were aware of DR and 122 (34.1% [95% CI: 29.2-39.2]) had adequate knowledge about DR. Awareness and knowledge of DR were significantly high among the subjects who completed college level of education (66.7%, OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 1.73-4.48, P < 0.001 and 55.9%, OR = 3.92; 95% CI: 2.41-6.38, P < 0.001) and who spoke English (52.5%, OR = 3.37; 95% CI: 2.14-5.30, P < 0.001 and 50.4%, OR = 3.26; 95% CI: 2.07-5.14, P < 0.001). Christians reported better knowledge about DR compared to other religions (48.8%, OR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.38-3.75, P = 0.005). Negative association was noted between the knowledge of DR and presence of diabetes (29.4%, OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.41-0.99, P = 0.048). The practice pattern was strongly associated (OR = 7.47; 95% CI: 4.51-12.38, P < 0.001) with the knowledge of DR. Attitude was not influenced by any of the factors. Conclusion: We found that awareness and knowledge about DR were unsatisfactory; literacy contributed significantly toward it. These findings also suggest that there is an immediate need to enhance the awareness and knowledge of diabetic eye diseases in order to reduce the burden of visual impairment.

Barriers and enablers to low vision care services in a tertiary eye care hospital: A mixed method study.

PURPOSE: Visual impairment is a major health concern all over the world. Globally, it has been studied that utilization of low vision care (LVC) services varies from 3% to 15%. This study describes barriers to access the LVC services and suggest enablers to improve the uptake of services in a tertiary eye care hospital. METHODS: A snapshot qualitative research design with purposive sampling was adopted. Qualitative part of the study involved 13 eye care practitioners (ECPs) and 7 patients with low vision participated in one to one in-depth interviews. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, inductively coded, and analyzed. The barriers to access LVC services were identified and enablers to improve the uptake of services were implemented. The referral rate and utilization of LVC services were analyzed in the quantitative part. RESULTS: Themes emerged out of qualitative part of the study were barriers, perceived benefits, and enablers to improve the uptake of LVC services. Barriers among ECPs included lack of awareness on referral criteria and available LVC. Barriers among patients were lack of knowledge and understanding about the need for services. The enablers included development of referral criteria and referral pathway to LVC services, creating awareness of LVC services to patients and ECPs, stratification levels of LVC services, and implementation of LVC counseling chamber. Referral rate improved from 25.6% to 51.2% and the utilization of services increased from 67.9% to 81.7% after implementation of the recommended enablers. CONCLUSION: Execution of stratified enablers increased the uptake of LVC services benefiting more number of people with low vision in this study.

Awareness and knowledge on eye donation among Allied Health Sciences, medical, and nursing students in Goa.

PURPOSE: To assess the awareness and knowledge on eye donation among students of Allied Health Sciences (AHS), medical, and nursing. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a standard predesigned and pretested closed-ended structured questionnaire based on eye donation to obtain information about awareness and knowledge from AHS, medical, and nursing students of Goa. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty participants participated in the study. The majority of the participants [97.9% (95% CI: 95.8-99.2)] were aware of the existence of eye donation. Mass media (62.9%) was the foremost source of information. However, only 145 [42.6% (95% CI: 37.3-48.1)] participants were willing to donate their eyes. AHS, medical, and nursing students stood apart significantly in their awareness and knowledge. Only 60 [17.6% (95% CI: 13.7-22.1)] participants were aware that the whole eye can be removed from the donor while 215 [63.2% (95% CI: 57.9-68.4)] were wrongly aware that the cornea can be removed separately. Awareness about eye donation was not associated with willingness to donate eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Although awareness regarding eye donation was satisfactory, there was lack of willingness to donate eyes. There is a need to bridge the gap between eye bank and donors.