S Haymes¹, L M Weih², J B Hassell², J E Keeffe²
¹The University of Melbourne, Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Melbourne, Australia; ²Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, Melbourne, Australia
PURPOSE: Many instruments have been developed for use in low vision rehabilitation. Several of these instruments measure different consequences of vision impairment. For example, the Melbourne Low Vision ADL Index (MLVAI) measures activity performance, the Impact of Vision Impairment questionnaire (IVI) measures participation and the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) measures self-perceived visual functioning. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between these instruments. METHODS: Subjects with best distance visual acuity worse than 6/12 were recruited from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital specialist clinics. The main causes of vision impairment were retinal disease (AMD and diabetic retinopathy), corneal disease and glaucoma. All three instruments were administered to the subjects by an interviewer. RESULTS: Several, moderate to high, statistically significant correlations were obtained between various sub-scales of the instruments. The strongest correlations obtained were between the sub-scales of the IVI and the NEI-VFQ (r = 0.45 to 0.88, p<0.05). Strong correlations were also found between the MLVAI 'part b' sub-scale on self-care ADLs, which utilises a questionnaire format, and many of the IVI and the NEI-VFQ sub-scales. However, the correlations for the MLVAI 'part a' sub-scale on instrumental ADLs, which involves observed activity performance, were more moderate. CONCLUSIONS: There was a moderately high correlation between the participation and self-perceived visual functioning instruments, the IVI and the NEI-VFQ respectively. However, the correlation between observed activity performance, as measured by the MLVAI, and the other instruments was low. The results indicate that each instrument provides a somewhat unique assessment of the person with low vision.
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