Mobility, Contrast Sensitivity Screening Key to Fall Risk in Maculopathy

Objective: To evaluate associations between measures of visual impairment, mobility difficulty, and fall risk in older adults with binocular maculopathy. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This authors included patients (aged >55 years) diagnosed with bilateral age-related macular degeneration or Stargardt disease and were referred by an ophthalmologist for low-vision evaluation. Those who did not have normal confrontation visual fields were excluded. Patients underwent ophthalmic assessment that included binocular high- and low-contrast visual acuity measurement and visual field testing. They also completed the 9-item Glaucoma Activity Limitation (GAL-9) questionnaire assessing mobility and balance and activity-specific tasks and reported their degree of difficulty on a 5-point scale. All patients were referred for occupational therapy, while orientation and stability training and physical therapy referrals were made on a case-by-case basis. Subjects were categorized based on t more...