Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York, United States.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018 Aug 1;59(10):4182-4189. doi: 10.1167/iovs.18-24334.
People with macular degeneration (MD) experience difficulties in reading due to central-field loss. Two new fonts, Eido and Maxular Rx, have been designed specifically for individuals with MD. We have compared reading performance of these new fonts with three mainstream fonts (Times-Roman, Courier, and Helvetica).
Subjects with MD (n = 19) and normally sighted subjects (n = 40) were tested with digital versions of the MNREAD test using the five fonts. Maximum reading speed (MRS), critical print size (CPS), and reading acuity (RA) were estimated to characterize reading performance. Physical properties of the fonts were quantified by interletter spacing and perimetric complexity.
Reading with MD showed font differences in MRS, CPS, and RA. Compared with Helvetica and Times, Maxular Rx permitted both smaller CPS and RA, and Eido permitted smaller RA. However, the two new fonts presented no advantage over Courier. Spacing, but not Complexity, was a significant predictor of reading performance for subjects with MD.
The two fonts, designed specifically for MD, permit smaller print to be read, but provide no advantage over Courier.
黄斑变性（MD）患者由于中心视野损失而在阅读方面存在困难。两种新字体，Eido 和 Maxular Rx，是专门为 MD 患者设计的。我们比较了这些新字体与三种主流字体（Times-Roman、Courier 和 Helvetica）的阅读性能。
使用 MNREAD 测试的数字版本，对 19 名 MD 患者和 40 名正常视力者进行测试，使用了这五种字体。最大阅读速度（MRS）、临界打印尺寸（CPS）和阅读视力（RA）被用来描述阅读表现。字体的物理特性通过字母间的间隔和周边复杂度来量化。
阅读 MD 显示出 MRS、CPS 和 RA 方面的字体差异。与 Helvetica 和 Times 相比，Maxular Rx 允许更小的 CPS 和 RA，而 Eido 则允许更小的 RA。然而，这两种新字体与 Courier 相比并没有优势。间距，但不是复杂度，是 MD 患者阅读表现的一个重要预测指标。
这两种专门为 MD 设计的字体可以允许更小的字体被阅读，但与 Courier 相比没有优势。
