CLINICAL ANALYSIS OF LOW VISION AIDS

AIM: to clinically analyze 50 cases of low vision patients attending tertiary care hospital, their acceptance of low visual aids and to identify common ocular conditions leading to low vision. METHODS: A two year prospective study was done and fifty patients with low vision who attended the low vision clinic were examined for low visual aids acceptance and improvement of acuity, fields or ability to carry out daily activities. Patients underwent clinical low vision examination and they were assessed for low visual aids prescription and the kind of low visual prescribed for distance and near tasks. RESULTS: The age distribution showed maximum number of patients were in the age group of 51-60 years with male preponderance of 72 %. The most common disease causing low vision were retinitis pigmentosa followed my macular dystrophy, diabetic retinopathy and age related macular degeneration. Other diseases were POAG, myopic macular degeneration, optic atrophy and nystagmus. Spectacle magnifiers were most commonly prescribed in 44% for distant vision followed by telescopes in 38% of patients for near vision. Field expanders were prescribed for patients with advances glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa. Other near vision aids included hand magnifiers, stand magnifiers and CCTV. Both the distant telescopes and magnifiers for near vision improved the visual acuity by three lines which improved further on increasing the illumination. In patients with extensive scotomas of near fixation point, hand and stand magnifiers were better than spectacle magnifier. CONCLUSION: The study shows that low visual aids can be prescribed in various ocular diseases depending upon occupation, age and needs of the patient. Low visual aids help patients to make use of remaining vision to maximum extent so that they utilize residual vision effectively to meet their daily requirement