The unmet need for certification of vision impairment for people accessing a national primary care-based low vision rehabilitation service

John, Rebecca, Williams, Gwyn, Morgan, Tim, George, Michael R., Reynolds, Rhiannon and Acton, Jennifer H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0347-7651 2025. The unmet need for certification of vision impairment for people accessing a national primary care-based low vision rehabilitation service. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics 45 (1) , pp. 308-314. 10.1111/opo.13413

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

Background The certificate of vision impairment has an important role in enabling access to support for people with vision impairment (VI) and the provision of epidemiological data regarding sight loss. However, the rates of certification may not accurately reflect the number of people living with certifiable VI. Methods Observational data from a national primary care low vision rehabilitation service between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 were analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the certification status of patients with certifiable VI. For patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and best-corrected visual acuity of 6/60 or worse, logistic regression was undertaken to assess the effects of patient characteristics on certification status. Results For patients with AMD and certifiable levels of visual acuity, 41.00% (n = 426) were not certified. The reported certification was 60.09% (n = 256) and 58.24% (n = 357) for neovascular AMD and atrophic AMD, respectively. Existing patients of the service were 3.87 times more likely to be certified than new patients (OR 3.87, 95% CI 2.7–5.4). Increasing age (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.004–1.038) and decreasing visual acuity (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.50–0.78) were associated with an increased likelihood of certification. Conclusion A significant number of patients live with certifiable vision impairment but do not access certification. Policy changes in Wales now enable patients with bilateral atrophic AMD to access certification within the primary care setting. Given the unmet need, consideration should be given to primary care certification in the rest of the UK, and in Wales, the potential to expand the scope of conditions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Optometry and Vision Sciences
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0275-5408
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 October 2024
Date of Acceptance:	14 October 2024
Last Modified:	21 Jan 2025 12:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/172894

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item