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VA RESEARCH: VISION THERAPY APPEARS TO IMPROVE VISUAL
FUNCTION IN MACULAR DISEASE -- "Because the
waiting-list
...patients demonstrated a decline in functional
ability, low-vision
services should be offered as early as possible."
For more about VA research, use the VA Watchdog
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http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=va+research&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/jaaj-vta050808.php
Story below:
-------------------------
Contact: Jeanne Galatzer-Levy
312-996-1583
JAMA and Archives Journals
Vision therapy appears to improve visual function
in macular disease
A low-vision therapy program that includes a home visit, counseling,
assistive devices such as magnifiers and assignments to practice using
them appears to significantly improve vision in veterans with diseases of
the macula (the area of the retina with the sharpest vision), according to
a report in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
“Low vision, chronic visual impairment that limits everyday function, is
one of the 10 most prevalent causes of disability in America,” the authors
write as background information in the article. In addition to affecting
daily function, low vision increases the risk of depression, injury and an
overall decline in health. Most diseases that cause low vision are not
curable. “In most cases, impaired vision cannot be corrected and
rehabilitation is the only option for regaining lost function for the
patient with low vision. Low-vision rehabilitation aims to restore
functional ability, the ability to perform tasks modulated by visual
impairment.”
Joan A. Stelmack, O.D., M.P.H., of the Edward E.
Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, Ill., and the University of Illinois at
Chicago College of Medicine, and colleagues studied 126 patients (average
age 78.9, 98 percent male) with low vision and diseases affecting the
macula who were eligible for Veterans Affairs (VA) services. Between
November 2004 and November 2006, participants were randomly assigned to
one of two groups. In one, patients received a vision therapy program
incorporating a low-vision examination, counseling, assistive devices such
as magnifiers and five weekly sessions provided by a low-vision therapist
to teach use of the
 assistive
devices and other adaptive strategies. They were also assigned homework to
ensure they used the devices outside of therapy. The other group was
placed on a wait list for the therapy program and received no treatment
for four months, an amount of time veterans might normally wait to receive
such services.
After four months, the 64 patients in the treatment group received an
average of 10.46 hours of face-to-face vision therapy and experienced a
significant improvement in all aspects of visual function, including
reading ability. Among the 62 patients in the group that did not receive
therapy, vision and functional ability declined over the four-month
follow-up. “Significant improvements in functional ability for mobility,
visual information processing, visual motor skills and overall ability
also were seen in the treatment group; small losses in these functions
were observed in the control group,” the authors write.
“At least 10 hours of low-vision therapy, including a home visit and
assigned homework to encourage practice, is justified for patients with
moderate and severe vision loss from macular diseases,” they conclude.
“Because the waiting-list control patients demonstrated a decline in
functional ability, low-vision services should be offered as early as
possible.”
###
(Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126[5]:608-617. Available pre-embargo to the media
at www.jamamedia.org .)
Editor’s Note: Funding for this research was provided by a Department of
Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development grant. Funding
for the low-vision devices prescribed and dispensed to veteran
participants was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs
Prosthetics Service. Please see the article for additional information,
including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial
disclosures, funding and support, etc.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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