Baseline traits of patients presenting at a low vision clinic in Shanghai, China

Abstract

BackgroundLow vision, along with cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis, childhood blindness and refractive error, is one of the priorities in the global initiative, VISION 2020-The Right to Sight. The purpose of this study was to characterize the traits of patients presenting at a low vision clinic in China.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted of the records of 299 patients who visited the Low Vision Clinic of Eye and ENT Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from January 2009 to May 2014. Reviewed parameters included age, gender, education, occupation, cause of visual impairment and types of low vision aids (LVAs) dispensed.ResultsOf all the patients (193 male; aged from 3 to 96 years, with a mean of 29.74 ± 25.23 years), 43.48% experienced moderate visual impairment, 25.42% had severe visual impairment and 21.07% were blind. The four major causes of visual impairment were congenital cataract (14.38%), degenerative myopia (13.71%), juvenile macular degeneration (9.36%) and retinitis pigmentosa (9.36%). The most common causes of visual impairment were congenital cataract (22.67%) in 0-19-year-olds, retinitis pigmentosa (20.62%) in 20-59-year-olds, and age-related macular degeneration (36.54%) in the 60+ group. With the help of LVAs, a significant improvement of distance and/or near vision or visual field was observed in 243 patients, of whom 185 accepted LVAs and 58 patients refused due to high price, inconvenience, young age (≤6 y), clumsy appearance and ignorance. The most commonly dispensed LVAs were stand magnifiers (21.57%) followed by spectacle-type LVAs (19.21%).ConclusionsThe majority of the patients in our low vision clinic were young, the main causes of visual impairment were congenital and hereditary diseases. Stand magnifiers were the most commonly dispensed LVAs. High price was the major reason for refusing LVAs.

Low Vision Aids: Visual Outcomes and Barriers in Children with Low Vision

“…In 68% of children LVA could improve near visual acuity to N8 or better (P<0.01). Similar improvement in both near and distance visual acuity was reported by 12 For not purchasing LVA, cost was the major factor in BPL (n=5) children and cosmetic blemish was the major factor in APL children (n=6).…”

Clinical characteristics and causes of visual impairment in a low vision clinic in northern Jordan

“…This result is in accordance with many studies in the developing countries where there is a predominance of younger age group attending low vision clinics. 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 Noticeably, there was low presentation of younger children in the study with the youngest age reported as 5 years. This is because the targeted clinic receives only children of school age (5 years and above), which suggests a limitation of low vision services in Jordan.…”

Microglial phagocytosis and activation underlying photoreceptor degeneration is regulated by CX3CL1‐CX3CR1 signaling in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa

“…Affected patients, who bear mutations in one of a large (>200) set of causative genes (Daiger et al, ), progress typically to severe vision loss. Currently, RP lacks comprehensive treatment (Sacchetti et al, ) and is a leading cause of blindness in the young worldwide (Bunker et al, ; Gao et al, ; Haim, ). Elucidating cellular and molecular mechanisms common to various genetic etiologies of RP is of key importance in the search for treatments that can slow disease progression and vision loss (Sahel et al, ).…”