title: Vision assessment using the NIH Toolbox.
abstract: Vision is a sensation that is created from complex processes and provides us with a representation of the world around us. There are many important aspects of vision, but visual acuity was judged to be the most appropriate vision assessment for the NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function, both because of its central role in visual health and because acuity testing is common and relatively inexpensive to implement broadly. The impact of visual impairments on health-related quality of life also was viewed as important to assess, in order to gain a broad view of one's visual function. To test visual acuity, an easy-to-use software program was developed, based on the protocol used by the E-ETDRS. Children younger than 7 years were administered a version with only the letters H, O, T, and V. Reliability and validity of the Toolbox visual acuity test were very good. A 53-item vision-targeted, health-related quality of life survey was also developed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. rvarma@usc.edu
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McKean-Cowdin
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slotkin
authors.forename: Ron D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult