Impact of partial administration of the Cognitive Behavioral Driver's Inventory on concurrent validity for people with brain injury.

Objectives: We sought to determine whether the partial administration of the Cognitive Behavioral Driver's Inventory (CBDI) has a significant effect on its concurrent validity.

Method: Data were extracted from charts of clients with cerebrovascular accident or traumatic brain injury from three centers. The CBDI was administered either completely or partially (right and left perimetry or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R; Wechsler, 1982; Picture Completion and Digit Symbol tests were not completed).

Reducing wait time for cataract surgery: comparison of 2 historical cohorts of patients in Montreal.

Objective: A cataract efficiency program was implemented in Montreal in 2003 to decrease surgery wait time. Our goal was to determine whether health, adverse events during wait time, and outcome of patients presenting for cataract surgery differed from 1999 to 2006 in Montreal.

Design: Prospective preoperative and postoperative observational study performed at 2 time points 6 years apart.

Health-related and subjective quality of life of older adults with visual impairment.

Purpose: To document health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and subjective quality of life (SQOL) and explore their correlates in older adults seeking services for visual impairment (VI).

Method: A convenience sample of 64 participants (79.3 +/- 5.

Participation in daily activities and social roles of older adults with visual impairment.

Purpose: (1) to document participation in daily activities and social roles of older adults seeking services for visual impairment (VI) and compare it with that of the older population without VI or other disabilities, and (2) to explore correlates of their participation.

Methods: The 64 participants (46 women) had an average age of 79.3 years (SD = 5.

Cataract-related vision loss and depression in a cohort of patients awaiting cataract surgery.

Objective: As provinces consider what an acceptable cataract surgery wait time should be, research is needed on the risk of adverse events, such as depression, while waiting for care. We sought to determine whether worse visual acuity is related to depressive symptoms in patients waiting to have cataract surgery.

Design: Cohort study.

Effects of practice, visual loss, limb amputation, and disuse on motor imagery vividness.

Background: The ability to generate vivid images of movements is variable across individuals and likely influenced by sensorimotor inputs.

Objectives: The authors examined (1) the vividness of motor imagery in dancers and in persons with late blindness, with amputation or an immobilization of one lower limb; (2) the effects of prosthesis use on motor imagery; and (3) the temporal characteristics of motor imagery.

Methods: Eleven dancers, 10 persons with late blindness, 14 with amputation, 6 with immobilization, and 2 groups of age-matched healthy individuals (27 in control group A; 35 in control group B) participated.

Content validity of a home-based person-environment interaction assessment tool for visually impaired adults.

Home-based assessments require in-depth analyses of daily living difficulties. No assessment tool that has been validated with visually impaired adult subjects has allowed such analysis. This research adapted a home-based person-environment interaction assessment tool designed for persons who are visually impaired.

Validity of screening for glaucomatous optic nerve damage using confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II) in high-risk populations: a pilot study.

Purpose: To evaluate whether confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II [HRT II], Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) is a valid tool for the detection of glaucomatous optic nerve damage.

Design: Observational, cross-sectional, nonconsecutive study in Montreal, Canada.

Participants: Three hundred three nonconsecutive, high-risk persons were enrolled during a 6-month period.

Morphometry of cells and guttae in subjects with normal or guttate endothelium with a contour detection algorithm.

Purpose: To develop a semiautomatic method to analyze morphology of cells and guttae in corneal endothelium.

Methods: Specular endothelial pictures from 42 and 21 subjects with healthy and guttate corneas, respectively, were analyzed independently by two observers with cell contour-extracting routines. One observer also analyzed healthy endothelia with the Corner method (Bambi).

Comparison of two, three and four 45 degrees image fields obtained with the Topcon CRW6 nonmydriatic camera for screening for diabetic retinopathy.

Background: The use of the nonmydriatic camera is gaining increasing acceptance for the detection of diabetic retinopathy when integrated into a community-tailored program. We performed a study to evaluate the optimal number and positioning of photographic fields necessary to screen for diabetic retinopathy with the Topcon CRW6 nonmydriatic camera.

Methods: In this prospective masked cross-sectional comparative study, we compared the assessment of diabetic retinopathy using two, three or four 45 degrees fundus images (centred respectively on the disc and the macula; on the disc, on the macula and temporal to the macula; and on the disc, on the macula, temporal to the macula and superotemporal to the macula, including the superior temporal vein) acquired with the Topcon CRW6 nonmydriatic camera, with the grading of the seven standard stereoscopic 30 degrees field photographs (7SF).

Effectiveness and safety of screening for diabetic retinopathy with two nonmydriatic digital images compared with the seven standard stereoscopic photographic fields.

Background: The use of nonmydriatic cameras, which offer ease of screening and 45 degrees immediate imaging of the fundus, is gaining increasing acceptance for screening programs tailored to diverse conditions. We performed a study to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of screening for diabetic retinopathy with two nonmydriatic camera images compared with the seven standard stereoscopic 30 degrees fields (7SF). We also wished to determine whether safe screening guidelines could be established to identify patients needing referral to an ophthalmologist.

Estimation of the misclassification rate of self-reported visual disability.

Purpose: To estimate the misclassification rate of self-reported visual disabilities in a hospital-based population with known visual impairment.

Methods: Subjects (N=570) were recruited among patients aged 50 years and more and classified to three categories of visual impairment level. The questionnaire was administered to consenting patients through a telephone interview.

The VF-14 index of visual function in recipients of a corneal graft: a 2-year follow-up study.

Purpose: To assess visual functioning and other health-related quality of life outcomes after corneal grafting.

Design: A cohort study of corneal graft recipients observed for a minimum of 2 years after transplantation.

Methods: Repeated measurements were obtained by telephone interviews preoperatively and later at 1 and 2 years post-corneal transplantation in 217 patients with the following questionnaires: visual function index (VF-14), visual symptom score and global measures of trouble with vision, dissatisfaction with vision, ocular pain, and discomfort.

Prevalence of visual impairment and utilization of rehabilitation services in the visually impaired elderly population of Quebec.

Data on the prevalence of reported visual impairment and on the utilization of rehabilitation services were collected on a sample consisting of 1777 community-residing people aged at least 65 years. A visual disability was considered to be present if the answer to at least one of the following two questions was positive: Do you have trouble reading ordinary newsprint with glasses (if normally worn)? Do you have trouble clearly seeing the face of someone 12 feet away with glasses (if normally worn)? Prevalence of a reported near disability was 7.6%, prevalence of a reported distance disability was 4.

Functional outcome and satisfaction after photorefractive keratectomy. Part 2: survey of 690 patients.

Purpose: To document patient satisfaction and self-perceived quality of vision after bilateral photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

Design: Noncomparative, interventional case series.

Participants: Consecutive patients who underwent bilateral PRK from May 1994 through May 1997 by the 12 surgeons of four collaborating centers with a minimum of 4 months since the last surgery and up to 30 months since the first surgery.

Functional outcome and satisfaction after photorefractive keratectomy. Part 1: development and validation of a survey questionnaire.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a valid, reliable, and easy-to-administer instrument to assess patient satisfaction and perceived outcome after bilateral excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.

Design: Development and validation of a psychometric questionnaire.

Participants: Consecutive patients who underwent bilateral excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy from May 1994 through May 1997 by 12 surgeons from four collaborating centers.

Contrast and glare testing in the assessment of visual performance of candidate eyes for penetrating keratoplasty.

Purpose: To determine whether visual acuity (VA) measurements performed at low levels of contrast and glare are a better diagnostic tool for determining whether corneal clouding warrants surgery.

Methods: Fifty-nine subjects were recruited from among the candidates for corneal graft. Monocular VA was measured with three Regan contrast VA charts: 96, 25, and 11%, with and without glare provided by the Brightness Acuity Tester (BAT).

Effects of induced transverse chromatic aberration from an afocal prismatic lens on spatio-temporal sensitivity.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of ophthalmic lens-induced transverse chromatic aberrations (TCA) in natural viewing conditions on spatio-temporal thresholds. Three psychophysical experiments were performed; the first isolating the spatial component, the second isolating the temporal component and the third assessing spatio-temporal combinations. Taken together, the results show that TCA has profound effects on medium to high spatial frequencies (above 1 cpd) consistent with previous studies, and that the ratio of deficit TCA/blur can be higher than 2:1 for equivalent dioptric strengths.

The VF-14 index of functional visual impairment in candidates for a corneal graft.

Purpose: To validate the Visual Function-14 (VF-14) index of functional visual impairment in candidates for a corneal graft.

Methods: One hundred thirty-four patients who were candidates for a corneal graft participated in this study between August 1996 and February 1997. Demographic, ocular history, best-corrected visual acuity, and detailed ocular examination data were collected.

Optical performance of aspheric concave ophthalmic lenses: the effect of vertex distance.

Variations of power errors in the periphery of concave aspheric lenses were assessed as a function of vertex distance. Comparisons were made between the performance of different types of spherical lenses and that of aspheric lenses (-6.00 and -8.

Validation of French-language versions of the Visual Functioning Index (VF-14) and the Cataract Symptom Score.

Objective: To produce and validate French-language versions of the Visual Functioning Index (VF-14), the Cataract Symptom Score (CSS) and two global measures of trouble and satisfaction with vision.

Design: Survey by means of telephone interviews conducted 2 weeks apart.

Setting: Ophthalmology clinic of a teaching hospital in Montreal.

Luminance of projection focimeter target with oblique viewing.

In order to test the capacity of an optical projection focimeter for simultaneous use by several observers gathered around the instrument, the luminance of the projected target was measured for 3 projection focimeters (model Axil from Essilor, model LP2 from Nikon, and model LM-P5 from Topcon) when the photometer axis was perpendicular to the instrument screen and at oblique angles up to 75 degrees in 5 degrees increments. As expected, the luminance of the target decreased as obliquity of viewing increased; however, the rate of reduction is characteristic of each focimeter model. The repeatability of dioptric measurements with the Axil focimeter was assessed in the usual viewing position when the luminance of the target was reduced by optical filters (neutral density varying from 0.

Risk of automobile accidents among elderly drivers with impairments or chronic diseases.

A case-control study was conducted in Quebec elderly men in order to document the risk of road accidents associated with impairments or chronic medical conditions. All 1,400 drivers who had had an accident with either mild bodily injury or only property damage during their 70th year in 1988 and 1989 were selected as cases from the accident file of the "Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec" (SAAQ). They were compared to 2,636 controls randomly selected among drivers of the same age.

Risk of accidents among elderly car drivers with visual acuity equal to 6/12 or 6/15 and lack of binocular vision.

To document the risk of road accidents associated with minimal visual acuity (equal to 6/12 or 6/15) and lack of binocularity (stereoacuity > or = 200 sec arc), 1400 drivers who had had an accident during their 70th year were compared with 2636 controls randomly selected from the 30,000 70-year-old drivers who had had no accident during the same time. Information on visual characteristics and demerit points was obtained for all subjects from the Quebec Automobile Insurance Board. Mileage and prevailing driving conditions were documented through a mail questionnaire.

Discrepancy in the evaluation of visual impairment of elderly low-vision patients by general eye care practitioners and by low-vision practitioners.

Levels of impairment and disability determine eligibility for different welfare programs for visually handicapped persons. General eye care practitioners have to determine the level of impairment for administrative purposes, whereas the low-vision practitioner measures the level of impairment in order to plan the rehabilitation program. We compared the severity of visual impairment reported by the referring practitioners and the one reported by the low-vision specialists for the population of elderly low-vision patients receiving care from one of the largest rehabilitation centers for the visually handicapped in Quebec.