Self-Reported Driving Difficulty, Avoidance, and Negative Emotion With On-Road Driving Performance in Older Adults With Glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between self-perceived driving difficulty, driving avoidance, and negative emotion about driving with glaucoma severity and on-road driving performance.

Design: Cohort study.

Methods: Glaucoma patients (n = 111), aged 55 to 90 years, with mild, moderate, and advanced glaucoma in the better-eye based on the Glaucoma Staging System, and age-matched controls (n = 47) were recruited from a large tertiary academic center.

Rate of Falls, Fear of Falling, and Avoidance of Activities At-Risk for Falls in Older Adults With Glaucoma.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between glaucoma severity and rate of falls, fear of falling, and avoidance of activities at-risk for falls.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Patients with glaucoma (n = 138) 55 to 90 years of age with mild (n = 61), moderate (n = 54), or advanced (n = 23) glaucoma in the better eye based on the Glaucoma Staging System and age-matched control subjects (n = 50) were recruited from the Eye Clinics at Washington University, St.

Equating Visual Function Scales to Facilitate Reporting of Medicare Functional G-Code Severity/Complexity Modifiers for Low-Vision Patients.

Objective: To present a method of estimating and equating scales across functional assessment instruments that appropriately represents changes in a patient's functional ability and can be meaningfully mapped to changes in Medicare G-code severity modifiers.

Design: Previously published measures of patients' overall visual ability, estimated from low-vision patient responses to 7 different visual function rating scale questionnaires, are equated and mapped onto Medicare G-code severity modifiers.

Setting: Outpatient low-vision rehabilitation clinics.

Factors Affecting Readiness for Low Vision Interventions in Older Adults.

Objective: We sought to identify factors that facilitate and inhibit readiness for low vision interventions in people with vision loss, conceptualized as readiness for change in the way they perform daily activities.

Method: We conducted 10 semistructured interviews with older adults with low vision and analyzed the results using grounded theory concepts.

Results: Themes involving factors that facilitated change included desire to maintain or regain independence, positive attitude, and presence of formal social support.

Differences in vision between clinic and home and the effect of lighting in older adults with and without glaucoma.

Importance: Patients often report greater visual difficulties at home than expected from vision testing in the clinic. Such discordance may be owing to worse vision in the home than measured in clinic.

Objective: To compare vision measured between the clinic and home and evaluate factors, including lighting, associated with these differences.

Home lighting assessment for clients with low vision.

Objective: The goal was to develop an objective, comprehensive, near-task home lighting assessment for older adults with low vision.

Method: A home lighting assessment was developed and tested with older adults with low vision. Interrater and test-retest reliability studies were conducted.

Responsiveness of the EQ-5D to the effects of low vision rehabilitation.

Purpose: This study is an evaluation of the responsiveness of preference-based outcome measures to the effects of low vision rehabilitation (LVR). It assesses LVR-related changes in EQ-5D utilities in patients who exhibit changes in Activity Inventory (AI) measures of visual ability.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted on 77 low-vision patients out of a total of 764 patients in the parent study of "usual care" in LVR.

Cognitive, visual, auditory, and emotional factors that affect participation in older adults.

Objective: To determine whether changes in hearing, cognition, depression, and vision affect daily life participation and whether screening tests that identify problems could be used in the home.

Method: Interviewers assessed presence of medical conditions, social class, distance acuity, cognition, hearing, depression, and participation using valid screening tools. Participation scores were subgrouped according to negative or positive results.

Screening patients with stroke for rehabilitation needs: validation of the post-stroke rehabilitation guidelines.

Background: The authors assessed patients with acute stroke to determine whether the systematic use of brief screening measures would more efficiently detect cognitive and sensory impairment than standard clinical practice.

Methods: Fifty-three patients admitted to an acute stroke unit were assessed within 10 days of stroke onset. Performance on the screening measures was compared to information obtained from review of the patient's chart at discharge.