title: [Localization of scotomas in AMD by reading test : Random series of words in standardized format].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reading performance that can be measured by reading tests depends on whether reading material with or without contextual continuity is used.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to create a German version of the SKread test and to evaluate it in a clinical setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The evaluation of the SKread test was first performed on two groups of visually healthy subjects of different ages: a junior group of 25 persons with ages between 20 and 30 years (mean = 25.84 years, SD ± 2.41 years) and a senior group of 25 persons with ages between 51 and 84 years (mean = 62.40 ± 8.46 years). The same measurements were also performed on a group of 18 patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with ages between 75 and 95 years (mean = 81.89 ± 5.48 years). The reading performance was also measured using Radner charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using reading material without syntactic continuity considerably slowed down the reading speed and increased the error rate. Median reading rates of 11.53 characters/s (CPS) for the junior group and 8.96 CPS for the senior group were clearly lower than those for the Radner charts (22.02 CPS and 18.48 CPS, respectively). In the AMD patients, a statistical analysis of the error rates showed a highly significant difference between the Radner charts and the SKread test (p = 0.00014). Furthermore, by analyzing the errors made in the SKread test information could be obtained about the position of central scotomas. The test-retest reliability of the SKread was very good.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Information about the position of a central scotoma can be acquired by using the SKread test and an analysis of reading errors, which can augment effective clinical monitoring in AMD and subsequent visual rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Hochschule München, Lothstr. 34, 80335, München, Deutschland. werner.eisenbarth@hm.edu.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eisenbarth
authors.affiliation: Fachgebiet Computerlinguistik, Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Deutschland.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pado
authors.affiliation: Hochschule München, Lothstr. 34, 80335, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schriever
authors.affiliation: Hochschule München, Lothstr. 34, 80335, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schötschel
authors.affiliation: Augenklinik und Poliklinik des Klinikum rechts der Isar der TU München, München, Deutschland.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Feucht
authors.affiliation: The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: MacKeben
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012607:Scotoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D012660:Semantics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D058609:Visual Field Tests / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; Radner chart; Reading test; SKread; Scotoma