Visual disability in dry AMD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Measuring visual disability in geographic atrophy and early/intermediate age-related macular degeneration.
IRAS ID
166958
Contact name
David Crabb
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
School of Health Sciences, City University London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a potentially blinding condition which causes progressive loss of central vision. Advanced AMD, ultimately resulting in a complete loss of central vision, has a substantial impact on a person’s ability to perform activities of daily living. This also impacts negatively on psychological status, with around a third of people who have visual impairment due to advanced AMD showing signs of depression.
Geographic atrophy (GA) is an advanced form of AMD, characterised by sharply demarcated round or oval areas of hypopigmentation in the retina. Clinically, progression of geographic atrophy (GA) is measured by monitoring ability to read letter charts or by obtaining images of the retina to measure the size of the atrophic area. However, these tests do not provide direct information about the ability of an individual to function on a day to day basis. To date, there has been very little published research into quality of life and visual function specifically looking at GA and early/intermediate AMD, despite this population comprising ~90% of diagnosed AMD cases.
The aim of this work, therefore, is to evaluate the difficulty that patients with early AMD and GA experience with visual activities. This will be achieved through asking participants to carry out a series of computer based tests which simulate the performance of daily activities. In addition, participants will be invited to participate in a semi-structured interview where they will be asked to describe their visual symptoms.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0063
Date of REC Opinion
6 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion