Self-Report in Functional Assessment of Low Vision

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Abstract
Previous research on the relationship between performance of complex tasks and low vision has offered few clear predictors of visual function. In some clinical, screening, and rehabilitation settings, access to measures of vision whose validity extends to the conditions of daily life is limited. The low vision individual may be uniquely qualified to report on such inaccessible performance situations. We have constructed a 57-item questionnaire, administered by interview, designed to predict performance in low vision patients with visual field defects, on four broad categories of visual function: finding, detecting, scanning, and tracking. The finding and detecting categories were further subdivided into subcategories of functional visual field (e.g., finding close, detecting close and above). Subjects rated their experienced degree of difficulty on a wide variety of common tasks which specifically demand these functions. Validity was assessed with 41 subjects. The present study suggests that self-report can be an effective predictor of function, especially in conjunction with clinical psychophysical techniques.