Outcomes of Multidisciplinary Low Vision Rehabilitation in Adults

To evaluate the outcomes of multidisciplinary low vision rehabilitation (LVR) in adults with low vision (LV) in India using the Veterans Affairs Low Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire (VA LV VFQ-48) and the Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire.

Consecutive adults with LV referred for the first time to the Centre for Sight Enhancement were administered the 28-item IVI and VA LV VFQ-48 before and after LVR (4 months). Rasch-scaled scores were generated for the IVI and the VA LV VFQ-48 along with each of their subscales at both the time points. Effect size (ES) was calculated using Cohen's d coefficient.

Two hundred fifty-five patients completed the LVR program. Following LVR, the linear measures revealed significant improvements in vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) using the IVI at follow-up (P < 0.0001), with large ES for reading and accessing information (ES = 1.0) and relatively moderate ES for overall IVI (ES = 0.63) and mobility subscale (ES = 0.53). No significant improvement was found on emotional well-being subscale (ES = 0.18; P = 0.06). Similarly, significant improvements in VRQoL (P < 0.0001) were found for the VA LV VFQ-48 at follow-up, albeit moderate ES for the overall visual ability (ES = -0.67) and its subscales (reading [ES = -0.72], mobility [ES = -0.45], visual information [ES = -0.47), visual motor [ES = -0.54]).

Regardless of the instrument used for assessment, our multidisciplinary LVR program resulted in statistically significant improvements in visual functioning and VRQoL of those adults with LV deemed appropriate for intervention (dropout rates were high); however, the improvements were modest, and the clinical relevance of these small improvements may be limited. Nonetheless, further studies should attempt to increase the completion rates in order to draw strong inferences.