Vision related Quality of Life

Opinion Dry eye disease (DED) is one of most common ocular disease and reason for primary eye care visit worldwide. DED has gone through major evolutions over the past couple of decades. As stated in the latest DEWS II report in 2017, the definition of DED is now "a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface characterized by a loss of homeostasis of the tear film, and accompanied by ocular symptoms, in which tear film instability and hyperosmolarity, ocular surface inflammation and damage, and neurosensory abnormalities play etiological roles" [1].

This article presents a pilot study conducted in Barcelona with blind and visually-impaired people. The aim was to analyze the use and efficacy of tactile maps produced by means of 3D printing. For this purpose, structured interviews were used, along with direct observation, the creation of cognitive maps and tasks with prototypes. The aim has been to examine the instrumental and communicative value of these products in terms of interpreting, memorizing and understanding a certain urban route, comparing this with experience in situ, focusing on the difficulties faced by the visually disabled when visiting new places. Findings show the utility of this type of technique in aiding visually disabled users to memorize routes. As a limitation, this study shows that tactile maps are not wholly efficient since they require verbal support, which makes it hard for them to be used autonomously.

Purpose: To evaluate the quality of life and the impact of low vision services in patients with low vision. Methods: This prospective study evaluated visual function and vision-related quality of life in 44 Nepalese patients with low vision and compared that with age-gender matched normal population (N = 40). The main outcome measure was 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) administered before and four weeks after the first examination. We were able to administer the follow-up questionnaires in only 23 out of 44 consecutive patients. Low vision services which included low vision devices (optical/non-optical), counseling and training were provided to all the participants. Self assessment of the low vision services was also obtained through a structured questionnaire in the follow-up patients. Results: The mean composite score (49.53 ± 14.10) and all of the subscale score in NEI VFQ-25 for the low vision population were significantly lower than age and gender matched normal Nepalese population (89.90 ± 7.8). The mean composite score increased by 5.74 ± 3.9 and the six out of twelve subscale scores also improved significantly after low vision services. The low vision services were associated with improvement in objective measure of visual functioning in 90.9% (40 out of 44) of the patients at the first visit and were rated useful or very useful by 73.9% (17 out of 23) follow-up patients. Conclusions: Low vision patients have poor quality of life as measured with the NEI VFQ-25. Low vision service is associated with improved visual function, better quality of life and high rate of patient satisfaction.

As outdoor positioning systems have relatively well established and matured, indoor positioning and navigation systems still have great potential to grow. The researches on indoor positioning
system have gained the ever increasing momentum and importance, as the needs toward indoor positioning and navigation are flourishing.
With the prominence of smartphone, this paper introduces a portable indoor directory system that can be easily installed and operated on the typical smartphone; hence the system could benefit greater number of users. The proposed system is aimed to provide a new ways of providing indoor floor directory, which offers capabilities to retrieve customizable and real time information, to navigate interactively, and
to enable location-awareness computing. Additionally, the proposed system is designated to cater for the needs of visually challenged persons by incorporating screen reader and improved accessibility.
The whole system consists of three modules, namely mobile phone module, Kiosks module, and Website and Database module. The mobile phone module is the main frontend module which installed on users’ mobile devices, whereas the Kiosks and website are to provide supports and maintenances to the main module. Users can download maps and application from the Kiosks or website. On the other hand, administrator uses the website to manage the database

Tourism scholarship has failed to engage seriously with disability issues. This paper presents a critical analysis of the tourism encounters of individuals with vision problems and the positive impacts these can have on their emotional well-being, as well as the challenges they encounter whilst travelling. Eight focus groups were conducted with four social and support groups for people with visual impairment. Their tourism experiences are discussed under the themes of: embodied tourism encounters; inhospitable tourism spaces; navigating tourism environments. The study is located within the emerging hopeful tourism scholarship paradigm and underpinned by a research philosophy which promotes dignity, respect, equality and social justice in and through tourism scholarship and practice.

Arts, Culture and Blindness is the first book to study adult and child art students actually participating in courses designed with their needs in mind in universities and schools for the blind. In doing so it uniquely delves into the topic of the culture of education and society and its affects on an understanding of blindness and the visual arts. Furthermore, through an analysis of individual and group behaviour, the book also introduces a new cultural model for studying blindness and disability, investigates the social influences on the nature of blindness and the treatment of people who are blind, and examines the influences that have affected the self belief of blind students and the way they create art.

There are a number of books on the education of people who are blind or deaf. However, these are largely descriptive or based on experimental rather than observational or social research. Furthermore, books that have analysed blindness and the arts only analyse tactile perception in the education of students who are blind, not social and cultural factors. In addition, although there have been many books and articles analysing research on the perception of aesthetics and blindness, there are only two, one first published in the 1950s and now long out of print (Lowenfeld V & Brittain WL, 1987), and the other published in 2003 (Axel E & Levent N Eds., 2003) that consider the practice of this subject in depth. In particular, there have been no books solely addressing the culture of arts education by non-visual means.

In the Handbook of Disability Studies (Albrecht GL, Seelman KD & Bury M, 2001), Albrecht also identified the need for more works on the experience and cultural history of disability. In this respect, this book represents a unique study of the theory of blindness and the arts. In its first section it analyses traditional models of blindness and disability, finding that the history of disability is more a reflection of changes in society towards its scientific study and classification. This book then presents a unique social psychological study of arts students, both children and adults, in situ, their understanding and practice of the arts, particularly the visual arts, and their reaction to the attitudes of their teachers, past and present.

In researching the material for Arts, Culture and Blindness, the author has collaborated with internationally renown charities in the area of blindness, galleries, exhibitions and art, such as Art Education for the Blind, New York and BlindArt, London, leading to interest from museum and gallery professionals in his work.

University courses and practising teachers can also benefit from this book. In particular, there are few resources which directly relate to studies of teaching practise in undergraduate and postgraduate courses specialising in the education of students with physical disabilities, or students studying for undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees in subjects such as disability studies, sociology, social and applied psychology, and fine art and design.

Background The frequency of visual impairment and blindness increases with age and is more prevalent among older adults living in residential care centers. The main aim of this study was to assess the visual status and determine the prevalence and major causes of visual impairment and blindness among the older adults living in residential care centers of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 385 residents of 60 years or older residing in seven residential care centers of Kathmandu Valley. Presenting distance visual acuity was assessed in each eye with a Snellen chart at 6m distance in non-standardized outdoor illumination. Objective and subjective refractions were performed and the best-corrected distance visual acuity was considered in the better eye. Near acuity was assessed binocularly with The Lighthouse Near Acuity Card. Complete anterior and posterior segment examination was carried out. Results The mean age of residents was 74.34±8.19 years. The majority was female residents (78.2 %). The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness was 43.70 %. Adequate refractive correction could alone reduce the prevalence of visual impairment and blindness by 15.40 %. Cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness, which was followed by age-related macular degeneration, corneal opacity, glaucoma, and macular scar.

The optical density of human macular pigment was measured for 50 observers ranging in age from 10 to 90 years. The psychophysical method required adjusting the radiance of a I”, monochromatic light (40@550 nm) to minimize flicker (15 Hz) when presented in counterphase with a 460 nm standard. This test stimulus was presented superimposed on a broad-band, short-wave background. Macutar pigment density was determined by comparing sensitivity under these conditions for the fovea, where macular pigment is maximal, and 5’ temporally. This difference spectrum, measured for 12 observers, matched Wysxecki and Stiles’s standard density spectrum for macular pigment. To study variation in macular pigment density for a larger group of observers, measurements were made at only selected spectral points (460, 500 and 550 nm). The mean optical density at 460 nm for the complete sample of 50 subjects was 0.39. Substantial individual differences in density were found (cu. 0.10480). but this variation was not systematically related to age.

Tourism scholarship has failed to engage seriously with disability issues. This paper presents a critical analysis of the tourism encounters of individuals with vision problems and the positive impacts these can have on their emotional well-being, as well as the challenges they encounter whilst travelling. Eight focus groups were conducted with four social and support groups for people with visual impairment. Their tourism experiences are discussed under the themes of: embodied tourism encounters; inhospitable tourism spaces; navigating tourism environments. The study is located within the emerging hopeful tourism scholarship paradigm and underpinned by a research philosophy which promotes dignity, respect, equality and social justice in and through tourism scholarship and practice.

This article presents a pilot study conducted in Barcelona with blind and visually-impaired people. The aim was to analyze the use and efficacy of tactile maps produced by means of 3D printing. For this purpose, structured interviews were used, along with direct observation, the creation of cognitive maps and tasks with prototypes. The aim has been to examine the instrumental and communicative value of these products in terms of interpreting, memorizing and understanding a certain urban route, comparing this with experience in situ, focusing on the difficulties faced by the visually disabled when visiting new places. Findings show the utility of this type of technique in aiding visually disabled users to memorize routes. As a limitation, this study shows that tactile maps are not wholly efficient since they require verbal support, which makes it hard for them to be used autonomously.

ABSTRACT In 1999 we began research, funded by the 'Thomas Pocklington Trust', to explore the opinions of visually impaired people on visual impairment research. We found people wanted greater inclusion of visually impaired people in such research and participatory, ...

In this single case study, paintings by a visually impaired and cognitively handicapped savant artist are evaluated. He paints his pictures exclusively from memory, either after having looked at a natural scene through binoculars, or after studying landscape photographs in brochures, catalogues, and books. The paintings are compared with the models from which they were derived, and the resulting generative changes are accounted for by an interaction between impaired visual input and memory transformations.