Magnifier training may help adults with low vision increase reading speed
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NEW ORLEANS — Visually impaired adults may benefit from training in using a magnifier for prolonged reading, according to Ava Bittner, OD, PhD, FAAO, from the UCLA Stein Eye Institute, who presented at Academy ’23.
“When you talk to clinicians, some of them have this notion that maybe a magnifier is not so good for prolonged reading, due to the small field of view and having to really manipulate and move the magnifier the correct distances,” Bittner said.
Bittner and colleagues asked adult patients with low vision (mean age, 65 years) to use a new magnifier after receiving either telerehabilitation (n = 26) or in-office (n = 18) training. Participants completed the sustained silent reading test by phone at baseline and after 3 months, at which time they also completed the SF-36 general health questionnaire and a cognitive status interview.
According to results, participants who had high physical subscale scores were most likely to have improved average reading speed following training, with an average of 3.3 words per minute for every 10-point increase.
“Those who had [a magnifier] previously tended to have greater improvement, so just because they’re experienced with devices doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from more training,” Bittner said.
In addition, participants with handheld magnifiers read 28 words per minute faster than those using stand or portable electronic magnifiers.
The researchers also found that age, gender, cognitive status, best-corrected visual acuity in the better eye, training modality and number of sessions did not significantly affect reading speed.
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Bittner A, et al. Characteristics of visually-impaired adults whose silent, sustained reading speed improved following magnifier training. Presented at: Academy; Oct. 11-14, 2023; New Orleans.
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