Clinical Analysis of 500 Low Vision Patients.

Park, Jong Hwa; Moon, Nam Ju

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2005;46(2):345-352.
Published online February 28, 2005.

Clinical Analysis of 500 Low Vision Patients.

Jong Hwa Park, Nam Ju Moon

Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. njmoon@chol.com

저시력환자 500명의 임상분석

박종화,문남주

Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence: Jong Hwa Park, M.D.

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the clinical manifestation in 500 low vision patients. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 500 low vision patients at the National Medical Center and Chung-Ang University Yong-san Hospital from May 1995 to April 2004. The medical records were reviewed and interviews were administered to 80 consecutive patients. RESULTS: The most frequent causes of low vision included optic atrophy (29.8%), macular degeneration (22.6%) and retinitis pigmentosa (9.6%). Hand-held magnifier and Keplerian telescope were popularly used low vision aids. Visual acuity after prescription improved compared with that before prescription for near and distant vision. The most common purposes to visit a low vision clinic were for reading books and newspapers. Many patients didn't have an understanding about non-optical low vision aids. The majority of the patients (76.3%) benefited from attending a low vision clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Low vision rehabilitation using low vision aids may be a great help to increasing the quality of life in low vision populations.

Key Words: Low vision;Rehabilitation