The effect of low-vision simulators on ophthalmology residents' perception of quality of life

To evaluate the effect of low-vision simulators on daily activities performed by ophthalmology residents.

Experimental study.

Twenty-nine ophthalmology residents.

Four types of low-vision simulators-central loss, peripheral loss, hemianopia, and overall blur-were provided to 29 residents. They wore these simulators while performing daily activities described in the Visual Function-14 (VF-14). Their VF-14 scores after the exercises and the utility values before and after the exercises were analyzed.

After the exercises, the residents recorded significantly different utility values in the peripheral loss and overall blur groups. The changes in utility values were similar for the senior and junior residents. On the basis of the mean VF-14 scores of the 4 simulators, the residents considered overall blur to be the most serious visual impairment and hemianopia to be the least.

Ophthalmology residents tend to underestimate the impact of visual disability on patients' quality of life. They can gain a better appreciation of such an impact by using low-vision simulators during daily activities.