Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether the new, primary care based, Welsh Low Vision Service (WLVS) improved access to low vision services in Wales and was effective.
Method: The impact of the WLVS was determined by measuring the number of low vision appointments; travel time to the nearest service provider; and waiting times for low vision services for 1 year before, and for 1 year after, its establishment. Change in self-report visual function (using the 7 item NEI-VFQ), near visual acuity, patient satisfaction and use of low vision aids were used to determine the effectiveness of the service.
Results: Following instigation of the WLVS, the number of low vision assessments increased by 51.7%, the waiting time decreased from more than 6 months to less than 2 months for the majority of people, and journey time to the nearest service provider reduced for 80% of people. Visual disability scores improved significantly (p < 0.001) by 0.79 logits and 97.42% patients found the service helpful.
Conclusions: The extension of low vision rehabilitation services into primary care identified a considerable unmet burden of need as evidenced by the substantial increase in the number of low vision assessments provided in Wales. The new service is effective and exhibits improved access.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-1313.2010.00729.x | DOI Listing |
Cancer Imaging
January 2025
Melbourne Theranostic Innovation Centre, Level 8, 14-20 Blackwood St, North Melbourne, VIC, 3051, Australia.
True total-body and extended axial field-of-view (AFOV) PET/CT with 1m or more of body coverage are now commercially available and dramatically increase system sensitivity over conventional AFOV PET/CT. The Siemens Biograph Vision Quadra (Quadra), with an AFOV of 106cm, potentially allows use of significantly lower administered radiopharmaceuticals as well as reduced scan times. The aim of this study was to optimise acquisition protocols for routine clinical imaging with FDG on the Quadra the prioritisation of reduced activity given physical infrastructure constraints in our facility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Ophthalmol
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Command Hospital, Pune, 411040, India.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate whether the digital eye strain (DES) was associated with the low central corneal thickness (CCT).
Methods: This observational cross-sectional pilot study was conducted from April 2023 to October 2023 at a tertiary eye care centre in North India, where CCT values were compared between subjects with DES and those without DES. Two hundred and eighty subjects (n = 280) aged 15-40 years with clear corneas and lenses were initially included in this study.
J Neurosci
January 2025
Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan 00926, Puerto Rico
Despite significant strides in gender equity, the Nobel Prizes in STEM fields continue to exhibit glaring disparities in the recognition of women's contributions to science. Thirty years ago, only 3% of Nobel laureates in science were women; today, that number has increased marginally to 4%, raising the critical question: Why "still" so few? This opinion piece examines systemic inequities and structural barriers that hinder the equitable acknowledgment of women's and underrepresented groups' contributions to science. Data reveal that while women now comprise a significant proportion of degree recipients and workforce entrants in fields such as biomedical research and chemistry, their representation among Nobel laureates remains disproportionately low.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurosci
January 2025
The Department of Psychology and The Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Predictive updating of an object's spatial coordinates from pre-saccade to post-saccade contributes to stable visual perception. Whether object features are predictively remapped remains contested. We set out to characterise the spatiotemporal dynamics of feature processing during stable fixation and active vision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Exp Optom
January 2025
Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Clinical Relevance: Accommodation is crucial for clear near vision and is predominantly affected by presbyopia. The ability to modulate accommodative function with eye drops could offer a pharmacological approach to manage presbyopia.
Background: To investigate the effects of different concentrations of pilocarpine eye drops on ocular accommodation in young volunteers.
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