Vision restoration therapy after brain damage: Subjective improvements of activities of daily life and their relationship to visual field enlargements

Abstract

Patients with visual field deficits following stroke or neurotrauma can use vision restoration therapy (VRT) to increase their visual field size by about 5° of visual angle.1However, little is known about whether such visual field enlargements are relevant to visually guided activities of daily life. Specifically, we wish to know (1) if VRT affects activities of daily life (ADL) measures, and (2) to what extent any subjective changes correlate with quantitative measures of visual field enlargements. A retrospective analysis was carried out with data of 69 patients that had been interviewed after 6 months of VRT. Patient testimonials were analyzed post hoc and correlated with demographic status and pre/post VRT changes as measured by perimetric testing. As previously described, VRT significantly increased detection ability and most patients (88%) reported subjective benefits in ADL. A correlation analysis of quantitative parameters of visual field enlargements with subjective patient testimonials was perfo...