Oikonomidis Konstantinos, Almpanidou Stavroula, Talimtzi Persefoni, Kakavouti-Doudou Angeliki, Metaxas Spyridon M, Karampatakis Vasileios
Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
1st Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Cureus. 2023 Jul 31;15(7):e42730. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42730. eCollection 2023 Jul.
The aim of this study is to investigate the compliance with low-vision aids (LVAs) among patients with low vision (LV) in a Greek population. An explorative study was conducted in a sample of patients with LV attending our outpatient unit at the School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. Patients' demographics and daily visual demands were recorded, and they were administered with the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (VFQ-25) at baseline. Participants were trained in the use of a wide range of LVAs before their prescription. Evaluation of the use of the LVAs was conducted at one year after the baseline using a structured phone survey. A total of 100 LV patients were included, with 68% of them being older than 65 years and 50 being males. The main cause of LV (57.0%) was age-related macular degeneration, and the mean VFQ-25 score at baseline was 49.2 (SD= 17.8). Overall, 75 patients had been prescribed LVAs, with 76.0% of these patients preferring an optical aid. The vast majority (98.7%) of these patients stated using the LVA one year after the baseline, and 62.1% of them reported using the aid often to very often. Significantly, 76% of these patients reported that their quality of life was positively affected by the use of the aid, and 97.3% would recommend the use of LVA to another individual with the same problem. Providing appropriate training before the prescription is of high significance to improve the rate of compliance with the use of LVAs. These results can be used to develop appropriate strategies in this field.
本研究旨在调查希腊人群中低视力患者对低视力辅助器具（LVA）的依从性。在希腊塞萨洛尼基亚里士多德大学医学院门诊就诊的低视力患者样本中进行了一项探索性研究。记录了患者的人口统计学信息和日常视觉需求，并在基线时对他们进行了美国国立眼科研究所视觉功能问卷25（VFQ - 25）测试。在开具处方前，对参与者进行了多种低视力辅助器具使用的培训。在基线后一年，通过结构化电话调查对低视力辅助器具的使用情况进行评估。共纳入100名低视力患者，其中68%年龄超过65岁，50名为男性。低视力的主要原因（57.0%）是年龄相关性黄斑变性，基线时VFQ - 25的平均得分为49.2（标准差 = 17.8）。总体而言，75名患者开具了低视力辅助器具，其中76.0%的患者更喜欢光学辅助器具。这些患者中的绝大多数（98.7%）表示在基线后一年使用低视力辅助器具，其中62.1%的患者报告经常或非常经常使用该辅助器具。值得注意的是，这些患者中有76%报告称使用该辅助器具对他们的生活质量有积极影响，97.3%的患者会向有相同问题的其他人推荐使用低视力辅助器具。在开具处方前提供适当培训对于提高低视力辅助器具的使用依从率具有重要意义。这些结果可用于制定该领域的适当策略。
