Indian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 2019;5(4):422–425 Content available at: iponlinejournal.com Indian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Journal homepage: www.innovativepublication.com Original Resesrch Article Prospective study to evaluate the effectivity and acceptance of optical low vision AIDS Akash Belenje 1 , Shankargouda Patil 1, * 1 Dept. of Ophthalmology, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 20-09-2019 Accepted 22-09-2019 Available online 27-11-2019 Keywords: Effectivity and acceptance of optical low vision AIDS ABSTRACT Objective: Prospective study to evaluate the effectivity and acceptance of optical low vision aids. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study which included 50 patients with low vision satisfying the inclusion criteria. The cases were divided in to 3 groups less than 20 years (group1), 20 to 60 years (group2) and more than 60 years (group 3). These patients were counseled and trained to us e the low vision aids in our low vision aid clinic. They were followed up for 6 months regularly and during follow up the reason for acceptance and non acceptance of these devices were found out. Results: In this study patients with better contrast sensitivity greater than or equal to 0.3 on Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity chart had better acceptance (p value 0.0 23). Younger patients less than 20 years of age have good acceptance for both near vision aids & distance vision aids when compared to elder patients more than 60 years of age who had good acceptance for near vision aids and poor acceptance for distance vision aids (with p value of 0.001). Taking Initial best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in to account it was seen that patients falling under economic blindness group had better acceptance (p value 0.042). Conclusion: Prescription of low vision aids (LVA), adequate training and addressing the comorbidities can improve the acceptance level. Similarly economic blindness group more readily accepted the low vision aids since it helped their academic and professional development. Patients with better contrast sensitivity had better acceptance. Addressing the expectation by proper counselling before prescripti on of low vision aids is a must. © 2019 Published by Innovative Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 1. Introduction Visual impairment & the need for its rehabilitation are becoming more important because of the increase in life expectancy & better standard of living. 1,2 The challenges faced by patients of different age groups are different in their daily life. 3 Pediatric patients have to adapt fast to the constantly developing world around them, midleaged adults have to work to lead an independent life, whereas elderly patients want to lead a quality life by engaging with their favorite hobbies. 4,5 Hence it is very important to tackle the problems of each of these sectors of patients carefully. In a developing country like India in spite of a rise in irreparable ocular problems like age related macular degeneration, chronic diabetic macular oedema and many * Corresponding author. E-mail address: shpatil10@yahoo.com (S. Patil). other causes, not many people are using low vision aid devices. 3,4,6 It may be due to social stigma, financial aspect, cumbersomeness or any other factor. Through this study we want to find when we offer these patients with Low vision aids what made them to accept and what made them not to accept. 2. Materials and Methods This was a prospective study conducted in ophthalmology department, SDM college of/Medical Sciences and Hospital Dharwad, Karnataka state, from November 2016 to April 2018. 50 Patients with low vision were included in the study after taking informed consent. Ethical clearance was taken [Letter No: SDMIEC: 0863/2016, dated 28.10.2016]. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijceo.2019.102 2395-1443/© 2019 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 422