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Reading comprehension of AMD patients lower than controls
Age-related macular degeneration participants had worse better-eye distance visual acuity, worse reading acuity and slower maximum reading speeds compared to controls in a cross-sectional study of reading speed and comprehension utilizing the MNRead assessment.
Participants included 24 participants with AMD and 22 controls.
MNRead maximum reading speed, sustained-silent reading speed and comprehension scores were recorded.
In age-adjusted regressions, researchers found that participants with AMD read 46 words per minute (wpm) lower on MNRead, but there was no difference in sustained reading speeds between groups. In other models, they found a decrease of 12.6 wpm on MNRead per 0.1 worsening logMAR, but visual acuity was not associated with a decline in sustained reading speed.
Additionally, they found that participants with AMD had 25% lower comprehension scores compared to controls. Each one-line visual acuity decrease was associated with a 5.9% lower comprehension score.
Researchers concluded that those with AMD demonstrated substantially worse comprehension than controls when reading silently over longer periods of time.
“This combination of low comprehension and relatively normal reading speeds indicates that individuals with AMD sacrifice comprehension for speed when reading over long durations,” researchers wrote. – by Abigail Sutton
Disclosure: Research to Prevent Blindness supported the study. The authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.
Editor's note: This article was updated on Jan. 10, 2018, to indicate that Research to Prevent Blindness supported this work.