SHBC1025

S.D.BOEY¹, K.FITZMAURICE², T.TSE², M. L. CHAN¹, L. CAREY²

Tan Tock Seng Hospital¹, La Trobe University²

Visual impairment can restrict activities of daily living with the functional impact reflecting the ocular pathology. Clinically, the relationship between ocular pathology and functional impact is not systematically assessed, however this information is vital to the development of appropriate rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to use clinical information to identify the frequency of older adults with low vision based on World Health Organization (WHO) visual acuity and visual field criteria and apply the information into different patterns of visual loss which would be useful for rehabilitation.

Seven hundred retrospective medical records of older adults aged 65 and above seen at the outpatient ophthalmology clinics of a hospital in Singapore were reviewed. Extracted data was mapped to the WHO low vision criteria and a flow chart was developed to describe the main patterns of visual loss.

Six percent met the WHO low vision criteria. A flow chart was developed describing four major patterns of visual loss: 1) full visual field with decreased visual acuity, 2) any central or peripheral field loss with more than ten degrees of available field, 3) peripheral field loss with less than ten degrees of available field and 4) any visual field loss due to a cortical event. Eight sub-patterns were identified reflecting the complexity of the patterns.

The application of the flow chart to the medical records can help clinicians to identify older adults with different patterns of visual loss using a systematic approach and refer them for more targeted low vision rehabilitation.