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Published on: February 11, 2014
Outcomes of Low Vision Rehabilitation Programs for Children: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study
1Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
Purpose:
To evaluate the visual, functional, educational, and mobility outcomes of a comprehensive pediatric low vision rehabilitation (LVR) program and determine whether electronic low vision aids (LVAs) provide additional benefit.
Methods:
A multicenter prospective observational cohort study was conducted across three tertiary low vision rehabilitation centers in Jordan. Two hundred children aged 6-16 years with moderate-to-severe visual impairment were enrolled. The intervention group (n = 150) received comprehensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation, including optical LVAs, rehabilitation training, educational support, and electronic LVAs when indicated, while the comparison group (n = 50) received routine low vision care without participation in the structured multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Primary outcomes were LogMAR distance visual acuity (VA) and LV Prasad Functional Vision Questionnaire (FVQ) scores. Secondary outcomes included near VA, reading speed, mathematics performance, and mobility independence.
Results:
At 12 months, the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in distance VA from 0.87 ± 0.13 to 0.65 ± 0.11 LogMAR (mean change -0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.25 to -0.19; p < 0.001), whereas the comparison group showed only minimal improvement. FVQ scores increased significantly from 42.3 ± 8.7 to 76.5 ± 9.1 (+34.2 points; p < 0.001). Within the intervention group, reading speed improved by 25.3 words/minute, mathematics scores by 15.7%, and mobility independence by 32% (all p < 0.001), whereas only minimal changes were observed in the comparison group. Multivariate regression analysis identified electronic LVA use as the strongest independent predictor of functional improvement (β = 0.41, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Comprehensive pediatric low vision rehabilitation improved visual, educational, and mobility outcomes. In an exploratory subgroup analysis, children using electronic low vision aids demonstrated greater functional improvement than those using non-electronic low vision aids.