Low Vision/Geriatrics News

People with low vision due to age are twice as likely to experience depression compared to the blind and five times more likely compared to normal individuals, a recent study from the National Eye Institute found.

Blepharitis is one of the few diseases that lasts a lifetime, James M. Rynerson, MD, told Primary Care Optometry News. “We wouldn’t possibly think that for an 80-year-old with dry eye disease, the problem started when they were a baby.”

The Perceived Stress Scale may be useful to measure the level of stress patients with AMD feel they are experiencing, according to researchers.

Optometrists can play a significant role in assessing driving ability in older patients, according to Swati C. Modi, OD, FAAO.

Topical NSAID use in patients who underwent cataract surgery was associated with a reduction in the already low incidence of postoperative macular edema, according to researchers.

February is Low Vision Awareness Month and the National Eye Institute is using this time to highlight new technologies and tools working to help the 4.1 million Americans living with low vision or blindness.

Comprehensive vision assessment should be considered in children with concussion reporting academic difficulty and in the development of return-to-learn protocols, according to researchers in Optometry & Vision Science.

Certain positions, including optometrists, are exempt from the federal hiring freeze enacted under the Trump Administration, according to Robert D. Snyder, acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Swati C. Modi, OD FAAO, stressed the importance of optometrists assessing driving habits in older patients.

“Low vision care is all about the patient’s goals,” Richard J. Shuldiner, OD, FAAO, told Primary Care Optometry News.