Visual Hallucinations in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

Abstract

Background: Charles Bonnet Syndrome is defined as visual hallucinations in psychologically normal people and has been associated with low vision for over two hundred years. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and complexity of visual hallucinations in patients with low vision. Design: A cross-sectional comparative analysis of clinical visual data and hallucinatory phenomena in two groups of patients with age-related macular degeneration and a third control group. Methods: A questionnaire on visual hallucinations was administered to 145 patients and 58 control individuals. Measurements: Visual hallucination type (simple, complex) was examined and group comparisons were made using analysis of variance, cross-tabulations, and percentages. Results: Those individuals reporting visual hallucinations had a significantly lower mean visual acuity than comparative groups. Materialization and frequency of visual hallucinations were dependent on hallucination type. Hallucination type was not dependent on visual ac...