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Refractive correction benefits some low-vision patients
Ophthalmol. 2010;117(7):1442-1446.
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Distance refractive correction may aid some patients seeking evaluation for low vision, according to a study.
Because low vision is often caused by underlying ocular disease, distance refraction is an often overlooked measure to improve vision. However, in a cross-sectional study of 739 low-vision patients, 11% had significantly improved vision of two lines or more on the ETDRS chart with the aid of refractive correction.
In the study, median improvement was 2.8 lines, with a range of two to 10 lines, and 26% of patients improved by four lines or more. However, there was little difference in visual gain as a function of underlying diagnosis; there was also little discernable difference in patient characteristics between patients who improved vs. patients who did not improve.
"Distance refraction should not be dismissed in its ability to give significant improvement to some patients, across diagnoses and across the range of visual acuities," the study authors wrote.
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