title: Visual-function tests for self-monitoring of age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of severe visual impairment in the United States. Changes in lifestyle can slow the progression of AMD, and new therapies that arrest choroidal neovascularization can preserve vision in patients who progress to the neovascular form of advanced AMD. Appropriate timing is required for these interventions to be optimally effective, which, in turn, depends critically on early diagnosis. Because annual or semiannual eye examinations may not be sufficient to ensure an early diagnosis, the preferred practice for AMD management must include self-monitoring by patients for disease onset or progression. In this review, we discuss a number of visual functions that have been shown to be impaired in eyes with AMD and specify desirable characteristics of visual-function tests that can be used for self-monitoring by populations at risk for AMD.
authors.affiliation: *PhD, FAAO †PhD Department of Optometry, School of Optometry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama (LL); Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, Texas (Y-ZW); and College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas (HEB).
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yi-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Harold E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Bedell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011601:Psychophysics; D014787:Vision Tests; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*