Development and Sensitivity to Visual Impairment of the Low Vision Functional Status Evaluation (LVFSE)

BACKGROUND: Functional limitation because of visual impairment is one of the most important measures of low vision rehabilitation outcome because it represents the true impact of visual impairment upon the daily lives of individuals. The Low Vision Functional Status Evaluation (LVFSE) was designed to evaluate functional limitation because of visual impairment using both observed and self-reported performance on daily activities. METHODS: Performance on 27 daily activities was evaluated for 155 visually impaired subjects. Subjects also provided ratings of task difficulty. RESULTS: Correlations between observed performance and visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visual field loss severity were moderate, r = -0.60 to r = 0.34. Correlations between self-reported task performance difficulty and measures of visual clinical state were weaker, r = -0.44 to r = 0.21. CONCLUSIONS: The LVFSE shows promise as a sensitive measure of low vision-related functional status but more work is needed to refine the measure.