Correctable visual impairment in stroke rehabilitation patients.

Background: after stroke, visual impairment may exacerbate the impact of other impairments on overall disability and negatively influence rehabilitation.

Objective: to examine the visual status of patients after stroke and determine whether this can be improved by simple interventions.

Design: prospective study.

Settings: stroke rehabilitation unit in a Belfast teaching hospital.

Subjects: 77 consecutive patients admitted for rehabilitation after acute stroke.

Methods: full optometric and ophthalmic assessment within 2 weeks of admission.

Results: of 70 patients with glasses, 19 did not have their glasses in hospital before prompting and 18 had glasses in unacceptable condition. Twenty patients had impaired visual acuity (6/12 or worse) with existing glasses (if helpful); 11 of these improved to better than 6/12 with refractive correction.

Conclusions: stroke professionals need to enquire about patients' spectacles and assess their condition. Patients with reduced visual acuity in the absence of significant non-refractive disease should be referred to an optometrist: in this series 14% of patients had visual impairment which benefited from refractive correction.