None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of this project is to determine the effects of preferred retinal loci (PRL) training in patients with macular disease, especially macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) ranks third among the global causes of visual impairment with a blindness prevalence of 8.7%. Macula degeneration leads to a loss of central vision affecting reading, recognising peoples faces, driving or other fine detailed tasks, which causes a large impact on a patient’s quality of life and independence. Patients are never completely blind from macular degeneration since the remaining peripheral retina is healthy and is then useful for navigational purposes. It is reported in the literature that some patients spontaneously use another area of the healthy retina known as a PRL when the macula is compromised. This project aims to determine the patients PRL using the MAIA micro perimeter and over a series of 10 training sessions to establish wether PRL training improves a patient’s visual acuity, fixation stability and reading speed, thus having a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life.
Interventions
Immediate Training Group
Participants enrolled into this group will have weekly training sessions for 10 weeks where baseline and outcome measurements will be performed by the 'examiner' which will be an ophthalmic assistant.
Followed by preferred retinal locus (PRL) training by the 'trainer' who will be an orthoptist, this involves using the macular integrity assessment (MAIA) micro perimeter to assess macular function and determine a viable PRL. Once a PRL has been established training wil
Immediate Training Group Participants enrolled into this group will have weekly training sessions for 10 weeks where baseline and outcome measurements will be performed by the 'examiner' which will be an ophthalmic assistant. Followed by preferred retinal locus (PRL) training by the 'trainer' who will be an orthoptist, this involves using the macular integrity assessment (MAIA) micro perimeter to assess macular function and determine a viable PRL. Once a PRL has been established training will be done using a program available on the MAIA where a biofeedback system is used to gain better use out of the PRL and improve fixation stability. Each visit will take approximately 45min to complete. On the first visit patients will also be randomised into the exercise or non exercise group. Participants will be given exercises which include pictures and words on a page to practice using their PRL.
Sponsors
Eyemedics Opthalmologist
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Caregiver)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria – patients with stable macular disease not undergoing active treatment for their macular disease, those undergoing intravitreal injections as a maintenance treatment. The macular disease must be considered stable for 6 months. VA 6/18 or worse in their better eye, score of 1-3 on the global deterioration scale (GDS) from the SMMSE mini-mental exam.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria – patients with active macular disease, VA better than 6/18, score >4 on the GDS from the SMMSE mini-mental exam. Participants whose macular disease becomes active during the training will be excluded from the study and able to re-join once the disease process is stable again.
Outcome results
None listed