Reading Ability and Reading Engagement in Older Adults With Glaucoma

PURPOSE: We evaluated the impact of glaucoma-related vision loss on reading ability and reading engagement in 10 reading activities. METHODS: A total of 63 glaucoma patients and 59 glaucoma suspect controls self-rated their level of reading difficulty for 10 reading items, and responses were analyzed using Rasch analysis to determine reading ability. Reading engagement was assessed by asking subjects to report the number of days per week they engaged in each reading activity. Reading restriction was determined as a decrement in engagement. RESULTS: Glaucoma subjects more often described greater reading difficulty than controls for all tasks except puzzles (P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma patients have less reading ability and engage less in a variety of different reading activities, particularly those requiring sustained reading. Future work should evaluate the mechanisms underlying reading disability in glaucoma to determine how patients can maintain reading ability and engagement.