|
Low vision
Low vision services are aimed at people who have residual vision that can be used and enhanced by specific aids. Low vision is currently defined as ‘visual acuity of < 6/18 down to and including 3/60 in the better eye’, from all causes. Many such persons require cataract extraction or refraction services. In 2009, the term ‘low vision’ will be deleted from the 10th revision of the ICD (ICD-10), leaving the terms ‘moderate visual impairment (presenting visual acuity of < 6/18 to 6/60)’ and ‘severe visual impairment (< 6/60 to 3/60)’, from all causes.
In 1993, at a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, the following definition was agreed on to identify persons who could benefit from low-vision services (24): “A person with low vision is someone who, after medical, surgical and/or optical intervention, has a corrected visual acuity in the better eye of < 6/18 down to and including light perception or a central visual fi eld of < 20 degrees, but who uses or has the potential to use vision for the planning and/or execution of a task.” To prevent confusion in this document, when this second meaning of the term ‘low vision’ is intended it will be referred to as ‘functional low vision’ or it will be used in the context of low-vision services. The definition of ‘functional low vision’ can be used in population-based surveys to determine prevalence and causes, although some persons with a corrected visual acuity of 6/18 or above in the better eye might benefit from low-vision care.
Would you like to have more information about low vision, the causes and treatments by Dark and Light Blind Care? Or do you want to know more about the current situation on low vision? Contact us by e-mail: info@darkandlight.eu
|
Latest news
Our Annual Report 2009 is now available online. ...Read more. Looking for: Graduate with a disability and ambition! Offer: Traineeship/ study at a development NGO in the Netherlands. ...Read more. Congenital and developmental cataract is the leading cause of childhood blindness in Africa and there is considerable evidence that children with cataract are not receiving surgical services in a timely fashion, that follow up after surgery remains poor, and that few children receive necessary spectacles and low vision devices. ...Read more. Dark & Light would like to get in touch with international funds, foundations or trust funds that are interested in funding a new project regarding mainstreaming disability. ...Read more. Check out the latest issue of the Community Eye Health Journal. ...Read more. |
Ga naar de 
