Influence Of Visual Impairment Research Articles

A longitudinal study of the association between visual impairment and income change using a national health screening cohort

We evaluated the influence of visual impairment (VI) on income change using the longitudinal database of a Korean National Health Insurance Service cohort. A total of 5292 participants ≥ 40 years old and registered as visually impaired persons were selected at a 1:4 ratio with 45,081 non-VI participants matched for age, sex, and income level. The income level of both the VI and non-VI groups increased over time. In the VI group, the income levels 3, 4 and 5 years were higher than the initial value, while the income levels from 1 through 5 years were increased each year in the non-VI group. The rate of change in income between time and VI were significant. In the subgroup analysis considering age, sex, and severity of VI, the rate of change in income were significant in < 65 years old subgroups. Regarding the severity of VI, a significant interaction was found for the mild-to-moderate VI subgroup. Although both the VI and non-VI groups showed increased income levels over 5 years, the degree of income increase in the VI group was relatively lower than that in the non-VI group. This finding was prominent in the middle-age subgroup. These results strongly suggested that VI induced an income inequality.

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KHIẾM THỊ KÈM RỐI LOẠN PHỔ TỰ KỈ ĐẾN SỰ PHÁT TRIỂN CỦA TRẺ 5 - 6 TUỔI

he combination of two types of disability, which is visual impairment and autism spectrum disorder, affects many areas of development of 5 - 6 years old children. Through a survey of 60 teachers who have been teaching visually impaired children with autism spectrum disorder at specialized and integrated centers of 8 provinces in Vietnam, it has been shown that the visual impairment and autism spectrum disorder have a great influence on areas of cognition, language, motor, mobility, self-service, and social skills. Research results show that the greatest influence of visual impairment with autism spectrum disorder on children is on social communication problems with = 4.0 and on language development with = 3.9 (very influential level). From determining this level, it will help teachers, families, and special education professionals have assessments and plans to support each specific area for children.

Mortality and causes of death in a population with blindness in Korea: A longitudinal follow-up study using a national sample cohort

The influence of visual impairment and blindness on the risk of mortality has been reported in diverse cohort studies. However, the results reported have varied from nonsignificant to significant associations. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of blindness on the risk of mortality from 2002 to 2013 using a longitudinal database with a national sample cohort provided by the Korean National Health Insurance Service. Of a total of 1,125,691 subjects, 1,279 subjects who were registered as blind were enrolled, and 5,116 control participants were matched at a 1:4 ratio for age, sex, income, region of residence, and medical histories of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. The life/death information contained in this dataset was used for the analysis; this information was originally recorded by the medical doctors on the death certificates of the participants. The percentage of total deaths during the mean follow-up period of 111.0 ± 41.6 months was 28.1% in the blindness group and 19.7% in the matched control group. The risk of mortality was significantly higher in the blindness group than in the control group according to the Cox proportional hazards model with additional adjustments for ischemic heart disease, stroke, and depression (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] of mortality = 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37–1.74, P < 0.001). In the subgroup analyses, the adjusted HRs for mortality were significantly higher in the blindness group than in the control group regardless of age (young defined as <60 years old vs old defined as ≥60 years old) and sex. The percentage of death due to metabolic diseases and genitourinary diseases was higher in the blindness group than in the matched control group.

Exploring the Intersection Between Disability and Overweightness in Physical Education Among Females With Visual Impairments

ABSTRACTPurpose: The purpose of this study was to adopt an explicitly intersectional approach to examine the experiences of women identifying as having a visual impairment and as being overweight or obese in integrated physical education (PE). Method: An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research approach was used, and six women (ages 25–34) with visual impairments who identified as being overweight or obese acted as participants. The sources of data included semistructured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflective interview notes. Data were analyzed thematically using a three-step analytic process informed by IPA. Results: Based on the data analysis, three inter-related themes emerged. The first theme, restricted/reluctant participation, described participants’ experiences with PE activity restrictions and the influence of visual impairment and overweight or obesity on these restrictions. The second theme, teacher discrimination, described participants’ recollection of discriminatory practices by physical educators that were influenced by perceptions of inability. Finally, the third theme, isolation, teasing and surveillance issues, described challenging social instances and how those instances were influenced by body size and disability status. Conclusions: Using an IPA approach, three themes emerged that exposed central experiences that were informed by the participants’ identities as individuals with visual impairments and being overweight or obese. Through the lens of intersectionality, these themes contribute to our understanding of how these identities interacted to contribute to disadvantaging experiences in PE.

Interocular transfer of visual memory – Influence of visual impairment and abnormalities of the optic chiasm

Due to an increased crossing of the optic nerve fibers at the optic chiasm in albinism, the visual cortex receives largely monocular input from the contralateral eye. Here we investigated whether this obstruction of binocular integration at the cortical input stage also impacts on interocular information exchange at the high processing level of visual memory. Interocular transfer (IOT) of visual memory retrieval was tested psychophysically after monocular encoding in 8 albinotic participants and 24 healthy controls. The retrieval performance (hit rate, reaction time, d’) was determined when using the same or different eye at encoding. To assess the effect of reduced visual acuity (VA) on recognition, we simulated interocular acuity differences (IOA) in two healthy control groups (each n = 8), i.e., with large (VA: 0.89 vs. 0.12) and small simulated interocular difference (VA: 0.25 vs. 0.12), with the latter matched to that observed in the albinotic participants (VA: 0.20 vs. 0.15). A significant decrease in retrieval performance was observed in controls with simulated strongly reduced VA in one eye (p < 0.0001). For the other conditions and groups, including the albinotic participants, no dependence on VA and no significant difference between using the same or different eye was observed. This indicates interocular transfer and hence interocular information exchange in human albinism. These findings thus provide insights into the scope of plasticity of binocular information processing and inter-hemispherical information flow.

Cognitive functioning of a blind student in a foreign language classroom

This paper deals with the specific character of cognitive functioning of blind children and adolescents with respect to perception, attention, memory, information processing and Theory of Mind. It also discusses the impact of this specificity on foreign language learning. Empirical research on the influence of visual impairment on cognitive functions is discussed, and foreign language learning is presented from the viewpoint of theories which look upon this process as a result of cognitive operations, oriented towards developing communicative competence. The situation of a blind learner in a foreign language class is discussed both from the perspective of challenges a blind student has to face and also from the perspective of opportunities to diminish the gap between the blind and the sighted thanks to the content included in foreign language textbooks.

Influence of visual impairment and hearing impairment on functional dependence status among people in Taiwan—An evaluation using the WHODAS 2.0 score

BackgroundVisual impairment (VI) and hearing impairment (HI) are the two most common types of sensory disability encountered clinically. However, VI and HI result in different limitations in daily life. We assessed the level of functioning in patients with VI or HI based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. MethodsThis nationwide, cross-sectional study included 312 people with VI and 540 people with HI. Each participant's degree of functioning and disability was evaluated using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0). The standardized WHODAS 2.0 scores ranged from 0 (least difficulty) to 100 (most difficulty). ResultsPatients with VI and those with HI had a mean (±standard error) 32-item WHODAS 2.0 score of 42.4 ± 2.9 and 27.1 ± 1.6, respectively. The degree of restriction was positively related to the level of VI. Specifically, the patients with VI and a WHODAS 2.0 score of 33.7–35.3 or higher were likely to experience barriers to accessing mobility products, communication products, and education products. Furthermore, patients with a score of 42.9 or higher might experience barriers to accessing ingestion products and living products. ConclusionWHODAS 2.0 scores are strongly correlated with the severity of VI. Mild VI should be targeted for treatment and referral as early as possible. Compared with the patients with HI, the patients with VI more frequently experience barriers to accessing environmental factors.

Qualidade de vida familiar, satisfação com a vida e apoio social percebido na deficiência visual

The study of the infl uence of visual impairment on the individual still remains with unanswered questions. This research compared the quality of family life, life satisfaction and perceived social support in a sample of adult with visual impairment (n = 52) and sighted (n = 52) using. There were obtained statistically signifi cant differences with the group with visual impairment providing superior results in the factors Time and Employment of the QOL, lower results in the factor Mass Media of the QOL and the subscale Attachment of the EPS. There was obtained statistically signifi cant differences between de

Association between visual impairment and sleep duration: analysis of the 2009 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

BackgroundVisual impairment (VI) is associated with increased mortality and health factors such as depression and cardiovascular disease. Epidemiologic studies consistently show associations between sleep duration with adverse health outcomes, but these have not systematically considered the influence of VI. The aim of this study was to ascertain the independent association between VI and sleep duration using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. We also examined whether race/ethnicity influenced these associations independently of sociodemographic and medical characteristics.MethodsOur analysis was based on the 2009 NHIS, providing valid sleep and vision data for 29,815 participants. The NHIS is a cross-sectional household interview survey utilizing a multistage area probability design. Trained personnel from the US census bureau gathered data during face-to-face interview and obtained socio-demographic, self-reported habitual sleep duration and physician-diagnosed chronic conditions.ResultsThe mean age of the sample was 48 years and 56% were female. Short sleep and long sleep durations were reported by 49% and 23% of the participants, respectively. Visual impairment was observed in 10%. Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models showed significant associations between VI and short sleep (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.5-1.9 and long sleep durations (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3-1.9). These associations persisted in multivariate models stratified by race-ethnic groups.ConclusionVisual impairment was associated with both short and long sleep durations. Analysis of epidemiologic sleep data should consider visual impairment as an important factor likely to influence the amount of sleep experienced habitually.

The influence of visual impairment on pregnancy outcomes.

To investigate whether visually impaired women are at higher risk for adverse maternal and perinatal complications, with an emphasis on visual impairment due to autoimmune etiology. A retrospective cohort study compared obstetric, delivery complications and perinatal outcomes of patients with and without a diagnosis of visual impairment in one or both eyes. Multivariable models were conducted to control for confounders. During the study period (1988-2012), 265,741 deliveries were included; of these 80 (0.03%) occurred in visually impaired patients. These patients were significantly older than the comparison group, and had higher rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and severe preeclampsia. Visually impaired women had higher rates of delivery prior to 37 weeks gestation and significantly higher rate of delivery by cesarean section (CS). A multivariable analysis model demonstrated that the risk factor for CS and packed cell transfusion in visually impaired women remained significantly high even after controlling for confounders such as maternal age, ethnicity, etc. (weighted OR = 2.04; 95% CI 1.23-3.37; p = 0.006). However, visual impairment was not an independent risk factor for congenital malformations, using another multivariable model (weighted OR = 1.96; 95% CI 0.99-3.85; p = 0.051). Perinatal outcome was comparable between the groups. The sub-group of visually impaired women due to possible autoimmune etiology was 19.4% and they had higher rates of recurrent miscarriages and CS compared to the other sub-groups. Visually impaired pregnant women are at high risk for CS and packed cell transfusion. Nevertheless, perinatal outcome is comparable to the general population.

Mental Representation of Spaces and Objects in a Historic Site: Influence of Visual Impairment

Mental Representation of Spaces and Objects in a Historic Site: Influence of Visual Impairment

A study of the influence of visual impairment on the purchase of clothing

Although the data shows that there are an increasing number of blind and visually impaired people in the United Kingdom as the result of increasing longevity, retail outlets, particularly for the sale of clothing, have not adjusted to this trend. There are some definite market advantages if proper steps are taken to meet the needs of elderly and disabled people.

The Influence of Visual Impairment on Physical Fitness Test Performance

The Project UNIQUE Physical Fitness Test was administered to 686 normally sighted and 484 visually impaired subjects in the 10-17 age range. Significant differences favoring the normally sighted were found for each of the six test items. The severity of the visual impairment was a significant factor on the two running items. Partially sighted subjects made better scores than legally blind subjects on the 50-yard dash and long-distance run. No significant differences between partially sighted and blind subjects were found for the non-running items in the test battery (skinfolds, grip strength, sit-ups and sit and reach). Findings suggested that, depending upon the purpose of the assessment, physical fitness test scores of the visually impaired generally should be compared to specially designed norms and that, on the running items, separate norms should be utilized for the blind and partially sighted.