More evidence of the association between depression and visual impairment

There is a new paper in Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science which assesses the incidence of depression amongst people with visual impairment. The authors interviewed 143 adults with visual impairment (vision worse than 6/12 or 20/40). 15% of their sample were identified as having ‘moderate depression’ by use of a standard instrument (the PHQ-9). One [...]

(Another) paper on visual impairment and falls

In the most recent edition of Ophthalmology, there is a paper by Patino and colleagues reporting the relationship between visual impairment and falls. This paper is part of the large LALES (Los Angeles Latino Eye Study), which is a population-based study of the Latin American population of Los Angeles. They found that about one-fifth of [...]

From the front line: Low vision care in rural Romania

For the past six years I have been involved with a small charity called Iasis, which amongst other things provides low vision care in a School for the Blind in a remote part of Romania. It has been fascinating to see the changes in this part of Eastern Europe since 2004: since then Romania has [...]