Three-quarters have visual problems, including impaired central vision, eye movement abnormalities
FRIDAY, March 29, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The incidence and point prevalence of visual problems in acute stroke survivors are very high, according to a study published online March 6 in PLOS ONE.
Fiona J. Rowe, Ph.D., from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and colleagues reviewed visual screening data (assessment of visual acuity, visual fields, ocular alignment, ocular motility, visual inattention, and visual perception) for 1,033 patients (52 percent men; mean age, 73 years) who underwent visual screening at a median of three days and full visual assessment at a median of four days after the incident stroke (87 percent ischemic strokes).
The researchers found that the incidence of new-onset visual sequelae was 48 percent for all stroke admissions and 60 percent among stroke survivors. Only 27 percent of patients had normal eye exams. For the 73 percent with visual problems, assessments showed that 56 percent had impaired central vision, 40 percent had eye movement abnormalities, 28 percent had visual field loss, 27 percent had visual inattention, and 5 percent had visual perceptual disorders.
“It is important to detect visual problems, regardless of whether it is pre-existent or of new onset, and disseminate the functional consequences and impact of this to patients, carers, and stroke teams so this can be accounted for in activities of daily living and general mobilization/rehabilitation,” Rowe said in a statement.
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