Simple Vision Function Tests that Distinguish Eyes with Early to Intermediate Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To present and compare baseline vision findings in eyes with early age-related macular degeneration (E-AMD), intermediate AMD (I-AMD), and age-similar participants with normal aging changes to the retina (No-AMD).

Methods: Two hundred and thirty-seven eyes of 125 individuals (66.4% female, mean age 75.

How a diverse research ecosystem has generated new rehabilitation technologies: Review of NIDILRR's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers.

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain.

Clinical problems in strabismus: the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute symposium.

The Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI), celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014, hosted a symposium to identify the most pressing clinical problems in strabismus and binocular vision. Forty-five experts from around the world shared their perspectives at the San Francisco meeting, held November 6-9, 2012. Prior to the meeting, the organizers (TR, APW, RH, JB, AJ) asked attendees to identify the most pressing clinical problems in strabismus and to discuss them in a workshop-based format.

Comparison of panel D-15 tests in a large older population.

Purpose: To determine the frequency and type of color vision defects in a large group of randomly selected older people using two versions of the D-15 and to examine the agreement between the two tests.

Methods: The Adams desaturated D-15 test was administered under Illuminant C (MacBeth lamp, ∼ 100 lux) to a group of 865 individuals aged 58 to 102 years (mean, 75.2 ± 9.

Longitudinal increase in anisometropia in older adults.

Purpose: Anisometropia shows an exponential increase in prevalence with increasing age based on cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate longitudinal changes in anisometropia in all refractive components in older observers and to assess the influence of early cataract development.

Methods: Refractive error was assessed at two time points separated by approximately 12 years in 118 older observers (aged 67.

Association between hearing and vision impairments in older adults.

Purpose: To determine which, if any, vision variables are associated with moderate bilateral hearing loss in an elderly population.

Methods: Four hundred and forty-six subjects completed a hearing screening in conjunction with measurements on a variety of vision tests including high contrast acuity, low contrast acuity measured under a variety of lighting conditions, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis, and colour vision. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between various vision variables and hearing impairment while controlling for demographic and other co-morbid conditions.

Non-standard vision measures predict mortality in elders: the Smith-Kettlewell Institute (SKI) study.

Purpose: To determine which vision tests predict mortality within 10 years in a community-based elderly sample.

Methods: Nine hundred residents of Marin County, California 58 to 101 years of age (mean 75 years at baseline), underwent a battery of tests, including high contrast acuity, low contrast acuity, low contrast/low luminance acuity, acuity in glare, contrast sensitivity, color vision, stereopsis, standard and attentional fields. The association between the vision tests and mortality within 10 years of baseline was assessed with Cox Proportional Hazards models controlling for age, sex, education level, depression, cognitive status and self-reported medical conditions.

Monocular vs. binocular measurement of spatial vision in elders.

Purpose: To evaluate the frequency and magnitude of binocular gain (and loss) for high-contrast acuity, various low-contrast spatial vision measures and contrast sensitivity in an elderly population.

Methods: Ninety-five individuals over the age of 70 (mean age 80.5 years, range, 71.

A mobile phone system to find crosswalks for visually impaired pedestrians.

Urban intersections are the most dangerous parts of a blind or visually impaired pedestrian's travel. A prerequisite for safely crossing an intersection is entering the crosswalk in the right direction and avoiding the danger of straying outside the crosswalk. This paper presents a proof of concept system that seeks to provide such alignment information.

Dual sensory loss: overview of problems, visual assessment, and rehabilitation.

This article provides an overview of some of the problems and possible solutions surrounding the neglected issue of combined vision and hearing deficits. The subject is treated by considering each subpopulation, ranging from those who have no residual vision or hearing to those with mild coexisting vision and hearing losses. An attempt is made to relate the different types of visual deficit to the likely problems encountered in real-life activities, such as communication and travel, among individuals who also have a hearing impairment.

Face recognition in the elderly.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess face recognition ability in a large sample of elders (n=572, mean age=78.1 years) and to identify factors that affect performance.

Methods: Face recognition was measured by presenting standardized faces of varying sizes to simulate normal-sized faces at different viewing distances.

Night driving self-restriction: vision function and gender differences.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the relationship between night driving self-restriction and vision function in an older population.

Methods: Night driving self-restriction patterns (assessed by questionnaire) were examined cross-sectionally in relation to age, gender, health and cognitive status, depression, and vision function in a sample of 900 elders (mean age, 76 years) living in Marin County, California.

Results: Of the total sample, 91% of men and 77% of women were current drivers.

Low contrast vision function predicts subsequent acuity loss in an aged population: the SKI study.

Can vision tests predict subsequent loss of acuity? The association between performance on several low contrast spatial vision measures, glare recovery, color discrimination, flicker sensitivity, stereopsis and ocular disease status at baseline and acuity loss 4.4 years later was examined in a large aged random sample with good initial acuity. In univariate analyses, several vision measures, retinal disease status and age were each significant predictors of subsequent acuity loss.

Vision and driving self-restriction in older adults.

Objectives: To assess driving self-restriction (vision related and nonvision related) in relation to vision test performance of older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Population-based cohort of community-dwelling older adults.

Hand bone densitometry in rheumatoid arthritis, a five year longitudinal study: an outcome measure and a prognostic marker.

Objective: To investigate whether hand bone mineral content (BMC) measurement is an outcome measure for RA and whether the early changes in hand BMC predict functional disability.

Methods: Tender and swollen joints in hands and body, HAQ score, Larsen score on hand radiographs, serum CRP, and hand BMC measurement by DXA were studied every six months for five years in 40 patients with early RA. At the final visit, patients completed the SF-36 and Duruoz hand function questionnaires.

Development of refractive errors into old age.

Purpose: To evaluate refractive errors in older adults.

Methods: The distribution of refractive error components was evaluated in a sample of 569 older adults including 171 participants over the age of 80 years. The mean age was 75.

New orientation and accessibility option for persons with visual impairment: transportation applications for remote infrared audible signage.

BACKGROUND: For a blind or visually impaired person, a vital prerequisite to accessing any feature of the built environment is being able to find this feature. Braille signs, even where available, do not replace the functions of print signage because they cannot be read from a distance. Remotely readable infrared signs utilise spoken infrared message transmissions to label key environmental features, so that a blind person with a suitable receiver can locate and identify them from a distance.

Is vision function related to physical functional ability in older adults?

Objectives: To assess the relationship between a broad range of vision functions and measures of physical performance in older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Population-based cohort of community-dwelling older adults, subset of an on-going longitudinal study.

Reading performance in older adults with good acuity.

Purpose: This study evaluated factors affecting reading performance in a sample (N = 544) of older adults (mean age 72.8 years, range 58 to 102) with good high-contrast acuity (> or = 20/32).

Methods: Using the Pepper Reading Test, the relationship between reading rate and several vision measures was assessed.

The Smith-Kettlewell Institute (SKI) longitudinal study of vision function and its impact among the elderly: an overview.

We present an overview of a multifaceted longitudinal study of vision function and its interaction with daily activities, health, and well-being among 900 persons aged 58 to 102 years at the first visit. Standard vision measures as well as nonconventional tests designed to assess visual performance under the nonideal conditions encountered in everyday life were used. Here we summarize a few of the findings to date, with an emphasis on a direct comparison of declines in different aspects of vision function with age.

The relation between visual acuity and other spatial vision measures.

Purpose: To examine to what extent measurement of standard visual acuity allows prediction of other spatial vision measures on an individual basis when high correlations exist between visual acuity and the other measures.

Methods: A series of spatial vision functions were measured in a sample of 900 community-dwelling older observers. Regression analysis was performed, and correlation coefficients were calculated between standard high-contrast visual acuity and other spatial vision measures including contrast sensitivity, low-contrast acuity, low-contrast low-luminance acuity (SKILL card), and disability glare acuity.

Ocular contributions to age-related loss in coarse stereopsis.

Purpose: To determine the basis for the dramatic decline in coarse stereopsis that occurs with age.

Methods: The Frisby test was used to assess stereopsis in a large sample of randomly selected persons over the age of 58 years. A number of other vision functions were also assessed in the same persons.

Remote infrared signage evaluation for transit stations and intersections.

Opportunities for education and employment depend upon effective and independent travel. For mainstream society, this is accomplished to a large extent by printed signs. People who are print disabled, visually impaired, or totally blind are at a disadvantage because they do not have access to signage.