Optometry Commons^™

A Comparison Of Emoji Characters To Picture Optotypes, Simran Brar

Research Days

No abstract provided.

A Look Into The Impacts Of Tele-Optometry Expansion, Anna Hulsey

Honors Theses

Objective This study aims to assess the health and economic costs and benefits to society and patients resulting from the expansion of telemedicine into online refractive exams and to determine the likelihood of potential consumers to utilize such services. Methods A paper survey was distributed at the Inaugural Cempa Health Fair in October of 2019 to both vendors and participants. 105 responses were used to evaluate personal perceptions, practices, and likelihood across a diverse range of demographics. Responses were then entered and analyzed using descriptive statistics and percentages/frequencies. Results Results showed respondents were most attracted to online refractive exams due …

Determining Age-Related Visual Memory And Line Length Perception In Children And Adults, Katie Exline

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

There is little research in the field of visual memory and perceptual abilities of children as compared to adults. This thesis seeks to understand and provide new perspectives to this field with potential implications in the fields of optometry and education. Through two basic experiments, this thesis evaluates the abilities of individuals to perceive a visual stimulus and compare it other visual stimuli, while also observing their abilities to learn and remember various visual stimuli. Through experimentation using line length as the visual stimulus, the method of constant stimuli (MCS) evaluates subjects’ visual perception and the method of single stimuli …

Transitioning From Episodic To Sustained Care In Humanitarian Service, W Howard Mcalister Od, Ma, Mph, Jeffrey L. Weaver Od, Ms, Timothy A. Wingert Od, Kristen Kramlich Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Humanitarian missions serve populations needing care and usually provide short term interventions. Traditionally, care provided through humanitarian agencies like VOSH International has been episodic, consisting of a short-term mission placing a team in country for several days. There have been discussions that episodic care is a short term measure which impedes the systematic development of a long term solution to providing the necessary health care. The move toward sustained care is a step in the direction of improving the public health in developing countries.

Method: A survey instrument was mailed to the 26 VOSH chapters in the United States …

A Vision- And Life-Threatening Case Of Peripheral Ulcerative Keratitis, Len V. Koh Od, Megan E. Mcchesney Md, Chad E. Gosnell Od, Ryan N. Ngo Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK) is a rare but severe ocular manifestation most commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis amongst other autoimmune diseases. Quick diagnosis and co-management with corneal specialist and rheumatologist are crucial to preserve vision and life. A rare case of PUK associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is presented with updates on current understanding and co-management of this condition.

Case Report: A 76 year-old Caucasian male presented to the eye clinic on a Friday as a new patient, with a chief complaint of a red right eye started two weeks ago and was treated with erythromycin ointment, but it …

Silent Sinus Syndrome: An Uncommon Cause Of Diplopia, Tyler V. Mullen Od, Ruth Hyatt Od, Faao, Diplomate, Darcy Eberle Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Silent sinus syndrome is a rare condition with multiple ophthalmic findings of significance. Chronic, subclinical maxillary sinus inflammation alters the pressure gradient, leading to eventual maxillary sinus collapse, orbital floor depression, enophthalmos, and diplopia.

Case Report: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery may be indicated to correct diplopia and/or cosmesis.

Conclusion: Patients unbothered by facial asymmetry may be managed with prism in eyeglasses.

Case Series: Discordance Between Visible Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Defects And Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomographic Analysis In Patients With Glaucoma, Joseph Sowka Od, Leticia Rousso Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) has become a common modality in glaucoma diagnosis. Ease of use, comfort, and a comparative normative database makes this technology very popular with patients and practitioners. However, despite the sophistication of this technology, it may miss pathologic abnormalities of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) or be misinterpreted by practitioners based upon comparisons to a normative database.

Purpose: To illustrate discordance between clinical examination and SD-OCT analysis in patients with glaucoma.

Case Reports: Examples of three patients with glaucoma who had photographically and ophthalmoscopically visible RNFL defects who had SD-OCT analyses that fell …

Optometry's Contribution, Paul B. Freeman Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

The Dominant Eye: Dominant For Parvo- But Not For Magno-Biased Stimuli?, Brian K. Foutch, Carl J. Bassi

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

Eye dominance is often defined as a preference for the visual input of one eye to the other. Implicit in this definition is the dominant eye has better visual function. Several studies have investigated the effect of visual direction or defocus on ocular dominance, but there is less evidence connecting ocular dominance and monocular visual thresholds. We used the classic “hole in card” method to determine the dominant eye for 28 adult observers (11 males and 17 females). We then compared contrast thresholds between the dominant and non-dominant eyes using grating stimuli biased to be processed more strongly either by …

The Relationship Between Serum Zinc Levels And Myopia, Niamh Burke, John Butler, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Clinical significance: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amenable to nutritional influence. However, little attention has been given to possible die- tary influences. This study demonstrates that serum zinc does not play a role in myopia development. Background: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amena- ble to nutritional influence. A number of Asian studies have reported lower levels of serum zinc in myopic children. This study was designed to assess the relationship between serum zinc and myopia in the Korean population – using a subsample of participants from nation- ally representative data.

Macular Pigment And Diabetes Mellitus, Grainne Scanlon

Doctoral

The macula is a specialised part of the retina responsible for detailed central and colour vision. The carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin are uniquely concentrated in the inner and central layers of the primate macula, where they are collectively known as macular pigment (MP). Macular pigment confers potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the eye. Many studies have suggested that these carotenoids are lower in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and that increased levels of MP may confer protection against AMD, especially the late form of the disease. Research is now beginning to focus on MP optical density (MPOD) and carotenoid …

Investigation Of The Prevalence Of Receded Near Point Of Convergence In School-Aged Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Lorig Sildiryan

Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

PURPOSE: The intention of this study was to determine if there was an association between receded near point ofconvergence (NPC) and diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in school-agedchildren as compared to neuro-normal children. Differences in accommodative amplitude were investigated as well.

METHODS: This retrospective study was done by analyzing the data from examination records of fifty school-agedchildren between the ages of seven and seventeen. Twenty-five children in the experimental group withADHD were age and gender matched to twenty-five neuro-normal children in the control group. The average of each patient’s NPC break and accommodative amplitude values were used to conduct a …

Willingness To Pay For Improved Vision In Mozambique, Stephen Thompson, Kovin Naidoo, Carmen Gonzalez-Alvarez, Geoff Harris, James Loughman

Articles

The burden of vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error (needing spectacles) in Mozambique is known to be significant. To improve the planning and provision of eye health services, a better understanding of how vision is valued by patients is needed. The willingness to pay (WTP) for improved vision through correcting refractive error was investigated in Nampula, Mozambique, using stated choice and bidding game methodologies. The mean WTP values were found to be 388.92 Meticals (US$13) for stated choice and 469.89 Meticals (US$16) for the bidding game. The mean WTP values for rural dwellers were found to be lower than …

The Spatial Frequency Content Of Urban And Indoor Environments As A Potential Risk Factor For Myopia Development, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Elise Harb, Christine F Wildsoet

Articles

To examine the hypothesis that the spatial frequency spectra of urban and indoor environments differ from the natural environment in ways that may promote the development of myopia. Methods: A total of 814 images were analyzed from three datasets; University of California Berkeley (UCB), University of Texas (UT), and Botswana (UPenn). Images were processed in Matlab (Mathworks Inc) to map the camera color characteristics to human cone sensitivities. From the photopic luminance images generated, two-dimensional spatial frequency (SF) spectra were calculated and converted to one-dimensional spectra by rotational averaging. The spatial filtering profile of a 0.4 Bangerter foil, which has …

Macular Pigment Optical Density Fluctuation As A Function Of Pupillary Mydriasis: Methodological Considerations For Dual-Wavelength Autofluorescence, Ekaterina Loskutova, John Butler, Gabriela Hernandez-Martinez, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Macular pigment (MP), comprising the dietary carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin, is believed to benefit eye health and vision. Numerous clinical and research devices and techniques are currently available to facilitate MP optical density (MPOD) measurement. One of those techniques, dual-wavelength fundus autofluorescence (AF) is being increasingly used for measurement of MP in the eye. There is substantial methodological variation across the published studies that have employed this technique, including in relation to the use of mydriasis, the possible influence of which does not appear to have been addressed in the literature. This prospective cross-sectional study was designed to investigate …

Can Protanopia Be Correctly Diagnosed In Clinical Practice? An Evaluation Of Diagnosis By Four Screening Tests, Peter Davison, Grainne Scanlon

Articles

SIGNIFICANCE

Protanopia is a color vision deficiency (CVD) that is unacceptable for certain occupations. This study compares simultaneously for the first time the ability of three recently revised or developed clinical tests of color vision with the Ishihara test to diagnose protanopia from other color vision deficiencies.

PURPOSE

The objectives were to examine the ability of four clinical tests to differentiate (1) between protan and deutan CVDs in patients with protanopia and deuteranopia, and (2) protanopes and deuteranopes as “strong” deficiencies.

METHODS

The Hardy-Rand-Rittler (4th ed.), City University (3rd ed.), Ishihara, and Mollon-Reffin tests were evaluated against the Oculus Heidelberg …

Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Targets Irf7 Via Icp0 To Limit Type I Ifn Induction, David Shahnazaryan, Rana Khalil, Claire Wynne, Caroline A Jefferies, Joan Ní Gabhann-Dromgoole, Conor C Murphy

Articles

Herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‑1) infection, is the commonest cause of infectious blindness in the developed world. Following infection the virus is initially suspended in the tear film, where it encounters a multi‑pronged immune response comprising enzymes, complement, immunoglobulins and crucially, a range of anti‑viral and pro‑inflammatory cytokines. However, given that HSV‑1 can overcome innate immune responses to establish lifelong latency throughout a susceptible individual’s lifetime, there is significant interest in understanding the mechanisms employed by HSV‑1 to downregulate the anti‑viral type I interferon (IFN) mediated immune responses. This study aimed to investigate …

Toward The Mechanism Underlying Latanoprost- And Benzalkonium Chloride-Induced Meibomian Gland Dysfunction In Patients Treated For Glaucoma, Jillian Ziemanski

All ETDs from UAB

Once thought to be no more than a vexing eye condition, ocular surface disease (OSD) is now being viewed as a differentiating factor between sight and no sight. In the setting of glaucoma, OSD can interfere with treatment success, potentially allowing the visually devastating pathology of glaucoma to plow onward with little restraint. Compounding the clinical challenge is the growing awareness that glaucoma-associated OSD appears to be iatrogenically induced by topical ophthalmic medications. Daily, topical instillation of preserved prostaglandin analogs (PGAs), the most common first-line treatment for glaucoma, has been linked to a variety of OSD subtypes, including meibomian gland …

Developing An Assessment Of Reading Impairment And Its Impact On Occupational Performance In Older Adults With Glaucoma In A Metropolitan Area Of The Southeastern Us: A Mixed Methods Approach, Robin Deacy

All ETDs from UAB

According to the United States Administration on Aging (AOA, 2014), the population of individuals over 65 will be 98 million by the year 2060, doubling its 2014 estimates. As our population ages, the prevalence of glaucoma increases. Vision loss resulting from glaucoma can limit participation in valued occupations including engagement in reading. It has long been thought that mobility issues and glare sensitivity were the main factors that characterized glaucoma. In the late 1990s and early 2000s researchers began to examine quality of life (QoL) in those with glaucoma. It was during these early QoL studies that the first reports …

Quality Of Life, Reading And Accommodation In Children With Low Vision, Dawn Kissner Decarlo

All ETDs from UAB

Childhood permanent, uncorrectable vision impairment (VI) is rare, yet it is a public health burden as the impairment lasts a lifetime. Vision impairment describes decreased vision that affects everyday activities. Acuity cut-points commonly used include 20/40, 20/60 or 20/70. Blindness often refers to legal blindness (best corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or worse or a visual field less than 20 degrees). Children with VI often have hereditary conditions such as albinism, optic atrophy and retinal degenerations and are different in many ways than adults with VI. The majority have conditions with onset at or near birth and as a result …