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Results for “Persons with Visual Disabilities”

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PubMed2005

The influence of functional limitations and various demographic factors on self-reported activity restriction at older ages.

PURPOSE: The study analysed some differentials in self-reported restrictions for personal care activities. Activity restrictions are the result of basic functional limitations (vision, mobility...), but such limitations do not evenly reduce activity performance. We assessed how age, sex and the place of residence (household or institutions) changed the risk of reporting restrictions for similar functional problems. METHOD: We used the French disability survey data on personal care activity restrictions and functional limitations (physical, visual, time orientation) for people aged 55 years and older (n=16961). A logistic regression model shows the separate impact of the nature of functional limitations and of age, gender and residence on the risk of reported restrictions. RESULTS: Half of the people aged 55 and older reported functional problems; 20% of them also reported personal care activity restrictions. The probability of reporting restrictions was higher for people with several types of limitations, especially orientation and physical controlling for such limitations, the probability of restriction increased with age beyond 70, was higher for men than women below 70, and was higher in institutions than in households. CONCLUSION: Self-reported activity restrictions are not solely related to functional limitations but also to various demographic variables likely to modify the impact of these limitations on activity performance. These findings suggest studying differentials in the resources allowing to compensate limitations and to prevent reported restrictions.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Prognostic factors of spinal cord stimulation for chronic back and leg pain.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been used for more than 20 years in the treatment of diverse pain conditions. Although recent studies have identified more clearly those conditions for which SCSoffers a favorable prognosis, the identification of a patient population in whom reasonably long-term success can be expected has been difficult. In an effort to improve patient selection and increase the overall success rate of treatment, we have examined various physical, demographic, and psychosocial variables as predictors of SCS outcome. The study population consisted of 40 patients with chronic low back and/or leg pain, 85% of whom were diagnosed with failed back surgery syndrome. Medical history and demographic data were collected as part of an initial assessment along with patient responses to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the visual analogue pain rating scale (VAS), the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Sickness Impact Profile. Treatment outcomes were examined and found to improve significantly after 3 months of stimulation. Subsequent regression analysis revealed that patient age, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory depression subscale D, and the evaluative subscale of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQe) were important predictors of posttreatment pain status. Increased patient age and D subscale scores correlated negatively with pain status, as measured by the percentage of changes in pretreatment and posttreatment VAS scores, % delta VAS. In contrast, higher MPQe correlated with improved pain status. By the use of the following equation and the definition commonly associated with SCS success (at least 50% decrease in the VAS pain level), the success or failure of 3 months of SCS was correctly predicted in 88% of the study population. Our results suggest that patient age, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory depression, and MPQe may be clinically useful in the prediction of pain status after 3 months of SCS in patients with chronic low back and/or leg pain. % delta VAS = 112.57 - 1.98 (D)-1.68 (Age) + 35.54 (MPQe).

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Registered blindness and low vision in Kuwait.

AIM: To estimate the incidence rates and major causes of registered blindness and low vision in Kuwait. METHODS: Data on age, gender and cause of blindness and low vision were collected from the Visual Disability Committee while evaluating Kuwaiti citizens applying for a blindness allowance from January 2000 to December 2004. Criteria for legal blindness in Kuwait are visual acuity 6/60 or less in the better eye with best possible correction or a visual field less than 20 degrees around the central fixation point. Incidence rates per 100,000 person years of observation were calculated for both genders in four age subgroups and four severity categories. The causes of registered blindness were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition. RESULTS: 412 persons were registered as blind, 272 males (66.01%) and 140 females (33.98%), mean age 28.7 +/-25.2 years, 39.32% below 20 years of age, 31.79% 21-40 years, 18.68% 41-60 years, and 9.95% 61 years and over . Male gender was prevalent for all age subgroups. The overall incidence rate was 9.97 per 100,000 person years of observation, 13.33 for the male and 6.69 for the female patients. The incidence rates rose from 7.35 for those 20 years and younger to 14.80 for the age subgroup 41-60 and 23.16 for those 61 years and above. The rates of severe visual impairment classified in categories 4 and 5 were higher than the rates for categories 2 and 3. Retinitis pigmentosa was the leading cause of blindness, followed by congenital anomalies and optic atrophy. In the subgroup below 20 the rate of optic atrophy was highest, followed by congenital malformations, retinitis pigmentosa and retinopathy of prematurity. In the next age subgroup (21-40 years), the rate of retinitis pigmentosa was three times as high as in the younger subgroup, followed by optic atrophy, congenital malformations and albinism. In the subgroup 41-60 the incidence rate for phthisis bulbi was twice as high as the rates for retinitis pigmentosa and optic atrophy. For those 61 years and older, the incidence rate of phthisis bulbi was almost five times as high as that for optic atrophy. The incidence rates for the male patients were higher for the major causes of disability in all age subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence rate of registered blindness for Kuwait is less than in many other national registries. The marked prevalence of the male gender in all age subgroups is specific for Kuwait. The rates of the leading causes of registered blindness reflect the prevalence of the younger subgroups in our registry. Additional data on co-morbidity and dedicated efforts to reveal unrecognized and unregistered blindness, particularly among females, will overcome the limitations of the registry, and will serve to outline the tendencies in avoidable vision loss and monitor the efficacy of the prevention programs in the future.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Visual impairment in adult people with intellectual disability: literature review.

The present paper reviews studies on the prevalence of visual impairment (VI) in adults with intellectual disability (ID). Every publication describes an alarming prevalence of blindness and VI. Cataract and keratoconus were common. Many cases of poor distance vision were treatable by ordinary spherical or astigmatic glasses, but few people had had such prescriptions. Elderly residents in community and institutional care often did not receive glasses for near vision. Professional assessments disclosed higher prevalences of VI than questionnaires mailed to the care personnel. The prevalence of VI increased dramatically with the severity of ID and with age. Regular professional assessment of eye disorders, visual acuity and refraction are warranted in residents in both hospital and community care.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1978

Visual recognition in mentally retarded adolescents: cue value and instruction effects.

Recognition scores for positive and negative discriminative stimuli tested after a single trial through a discrimination problem list indicated that the frequency theory shown by Ekstrand, Wallace, and Underwood (1966) to account for the verbal discrimination learning of nonretarded adults may also hold for the visual-discrimination learning of mentally retarded persons (MA 5 to 8 and MA 8 to 11 years). In addition, retarded subjects correctly recognized the stimuli the stimuli more often after a simple inspection trial than after a standard discrimination-learning trial, indicating that they encoded the stimuli differently depending on the instructional set. The encoding difference was mediated by looking patterns. Both MA and serial position of stimuli on presentation and on test affected recognition.

Child↗
PubMed2001

Compensation of hand movement for patients by assistant force: relationship between human hand movement and robot arm motion.

As some functional diseases in the brain, such as cerebellum dysfunction and Parkinson's disease, cause the disability related to human movement control, a compensation method was developed for improving the performance of hand movement. The compensation can be carried out by adding assistant force, which is generated from artificial equipment attached to a human arm. From the experiment of visual target tracking, the tracking trajectories recorded from both healthy persons and patients with movement disability were analyzed. It was found that the tracking trajectories were represented sufficiently by a dynamic model of a robot arm in which the differences between healthy persons and patients were characterized by the model parameters. Based on the model, it was demonstrated that the hand movement of patients could be improved by introducing an appropriate compensation. The effectiveness of the proposed compensation method was verified from a simulation study of a robot arm. The design of artificial equipment for compensating the hand movement was also presented and discussed.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMed1996

Quantitative and qualitative assessments of pain in children with juvenile chronic arthritis based on the Norwegian version of the Pediatric Pain Questionnaire.

Quantitative and qualitative aspects of pain were studied using a standardized questionnaire (the Varni/Thompson Pediatric Pain Questionnaire--PPQ). Fifty-seven of 64 consecutive in- and out-patients (6-18 yrs) with juvenile chronic arthritis (pauciart. n = 27, polyart. n = 30) and 52 parents participated. The patients were examined by the same rheumatologist and randomly interviewed by either a disabled or a non-disabled person. Present pain, worst pain intensity and disease severity were scored (on visual analogue scales [10 cm. VAS]) by patients, parents and rheumatologist. Eighty-two percent of the children reported pain lasting from 30 min up to 24 h daily (mean 4.3 h). No significant differences were found between median pain scores of children, parents and the physician, but the correlations found between children's and parent's assessment of pain and assessment of disease severity were low, indicating that the two sets of raters did not agree to an acceptable level. Two-thirds of the adolescents reported that they would become more physically active if pain disappeared. Should the pain suddenly vanish, a positive change in family relationships was anticipated by one out of four patients. Forty-two percent of the patients thought it valuable to be interviewed by a disabled physician. The Norwegian Varni/Thompson PPQ is easy to administer to children down to six years and makes it possible to compare results internationally. Lack of agreement on the assessment of pain by a child and his/her parent indicates the need to interview both parties.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1978

Comparative assessment of visual perceptual abilities in the trainable mentally retarded.

Visual perceptual abilities of 47 institutionalized trainable retarded subjects were compared on selected measures of visual perception. Significant relationships were found between the Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Matching and Copying subtests of the Metropolitan Readiness Test. Only moderate correlations were found between these two subtests and Motor-free Visual Perception Test.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

An educational rationale for deaf students with multiple disabilities.

Deaf students with with multiple disabilities have a long history of limited opportunity, including limited access to educational opportunities available to their deaf peers. This article places the individual needs of deaf students with multiple disabilities in the context that guides much of deaf education--the importance of language acquisition. That emphasis provides a basis for placement and curriculum options for deaf students with multiple disabilities. The authors review the evolution of placement options, describe assumptions that should guide placement and curriculum decisions, and recommend practices for optimizing these students' education. Descriptions of three service delivery models--multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary--are provided, as well as an overview of the effectiveness of person-centered planning for deaf students with multiple disabilities. Disability-specific resources are highlighted that relate to mental retardation, autism, visual impairments, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, emotional disorders, medical issues, and general resources.

Deafness↗