Evaluation of a reading rehabilitation programme for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD-READ Project)

Abstract Low-vision patients with AMD often have difficulty reading, even when text is magnified to compensate for loss of central visual acuity (VA). The goal of this study is to evaluate the benefits of a reading rehabilitation programme to improve reading speed in patients with advanced AMD. Forty-eight patients with AMD were recruited from the low-vision service at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Each patient was given a battery of clinical vision tests, including near and distance VA, contrast sensitivity and reading speed evaluation. Patients were randomly assigned to a reading rehabilitation programme or standard low-vision services. Patients in the rehabilitation programme completed the “Learn to Use Your Vision for Reading Workbook” at home over a 6-week period. At baseline, reading speeds for standardised magnified text averaged 54 words/min. Following training, reading speeds improved less than 1 word/min in the trained group and 5 words/min in the control group. There was no significant difference in improvement in the two groups. The reading rehabilitation programme was not shown to be effective. This may reflect limitations in the implementation of the training; however, we are more inclined to interpret these results as an indication of the success of conventional low-vision services in the absence of extended training.