Unaided reading speed in pseudophakic patients after emmetropic monofocal intraocular lens implantation

This study aimed to assess the reading speed and font size in pseudophakic eyes following implantation of a spherically neutral monofocal intraocular lens (IOL) aimed at an emmetropic refractive outcome.

This was a prospective, single-eye study on patients undergoing routine cataract surgery with a spherically neutral monofocal IOL and expected to achieve 20/40 or better-unaided vision. Eyes with surgical complications or co-existing ocular pathology were excluded. At 3-9 months post-surgery, manifest refraction, uncorrected and best-corrected distance (UCDVA and BCDVA), and uncorrected near (UCNVA) LogMAR acuity, spherical equivalent (SEQ) were assessed. Uniocular unaided reading speed and smallest print size were assessed using the Salzburg Reading Desk (SRD) at 40 cm.

Median UCDVA, BCDVA, UCNVA, and SEQ of 301 patients (301 eyes) with age of 75 years (IQR:70 to 82) were 0.14 LogMAR (IQR = 0.02-0.24), 0 LogMAR (IQR = -0.08 to 0.02), and 0 D (IQR = -0.13 D to -0.07), respectively. The unaided reading speed was 100-150 wpm in 42.8% (129 patients), followed by 151-200 wpm in 26.1% (78 patients). The median unaided reading speed with SRD was 130 wpm (IQR: 101.50 to 165.50). 30.9% (93 patients) read 0.4 to 0.5 LogMAR, followed by 10.8% (33 patients) for 0.3 to 0.4 LogMAR and 7.4% (22 patients) for 0.2 to 0.3 LogMAR. The median smallest font size was 0.48 LogMAR (0.40 to 0.61 LogMAR).

This study establishes the baseline data of reading speed and font size with monofocal IOL, which can be used by further studies on extended depth-of-focus or multifocal IOLs for comparison.