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Massachusetts Eye and Ear
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Ophthalmology Outcomes

Vision Rehabilitation

The Vision Rehabilitation Service offers multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and personalized treatment for patients with low vision. Interventions address difficulties with reading, activities of daily living, patient safety, continued participation in activities despite vision loss, and psychosocial adjustment to low vision.

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Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale

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^0 = no impact, 9 = Maximum Positive Impact

*Benchmark values are based on studies limited to CCTV device users. Our data include all devices. Benchmarks represents 75th percentile from Strong et. al 2003 (upper limit) and 25th percentile from Huber et. al 2008 (lower limit). Error bars represent the 25th to 75th interquartile ranges of the clinical data. Data from 2021 were not statistically different from 2020 (P=0.13) or from Huber et. al 2008 (P=0.23), but they were significantly lower than Strong et. al 2003 (P<0.001).

Psychosocial impact of assistive device scales (PIADS)1 has been the primary quality outcome measure for the Vision Rehabilitation Service since 2017. It consists of 26 items of a few words or less (e.g., “competence,” “happiness,” “independence,” “embarrassment”) that fall into three broader categories where the patient is asked to rate their vision assistive device as decreasing (0 to -3) or increasing (0 to +3). The combined scores in each category are then summed to give a total score ranging from -9 to +9, with 0 being no impact, 9 being maximum positive impact, and -9 being maximum negative impact. Over the past 20 years, the PIADS has gained favor in various fields of rehabilitation research and clinical practice. It is easy to administer and does not require pre- and post-rehabilitation administration.

During calendar year 2022, 142 patients both reported using a device and took part in the PIADS questionnaire looking at the impact of a prescribed assistive device (i.e. spectacle-mounted or hand-held magnifying device). The median scores are shown in the graph.

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