Feasibility of the Radner Reading Charts in low-vision patients.
BACKGROUND
Being unable to read is a major problem for visually impaired patients. Since distance visual acuity (VA) does not adequately reflect reading ability, it is important to also evaluate near VA. The Radner Reading Charts (RRCs) are available to measure patients' reading performance. The present study tested the inter-chart and test-retest reliability of the RRCs in Dutch low-vision patients (i.e., visual acuity ≥0.3 logMAR) with various eye disorders.


METHODS
Thirty-eight patients read the three RRCs in random order. Then, about 1 month after the initial measurements, a test-retest procedure was performed in 15 of the 38 patients. Tested variables were reading acuity (logRAD), logRAD score, logRAD/logMAR ratio, maximum reading speed (MRS), and critical print size (CPS). Both MRS and CPS were calculated in two different ways. To determine the variability, a mixed-model analysis was used.


RESULTS
For all variables, the largest part of the variance was explained by the individual subject (86-89%) whereas the chart accounted for only 0-0.78% of the variability. Therefore, the inter-chart and test-retest reliability was high, except for the CPS which had a poor to moderate reliability (31-62%) when calculated in the two different ways.


CONCLUSIONS
The inter-chart and test-retest results showed high reliability in patients with low vision due to various diseases; therefore, the charts are feasible to determine effects in large groups.
Burggraaff
Marloes C
MC
Department of Ophthalmology, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.burggraaff@vumc.nl
van Nispen
Ruth M A
RM
Hoek
Sharon
S
Knol
Dirk L
DL
van Rens
Ger H M B
GH
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities