College of Optometrists in Vision Development announces online release of its journal, Optometry & Vision Development (OVD), Volume 42 #4
Aurora, OH – The most recent issue of Optometry & Vision Development (OVD), the official journal of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development has research and other articles that may surprise the general population. Did you know that a simple pair of glasses can significantly improve your quality of life? Researcher, Dr. Janis Winters of the Illinois College of Optometry/Illinois Eye Institute, in her paper, Vision Related Quality of Life among Urban Low-Income Black Seniors Participating in an Eye Care Program: Effect after New Spectacle, has shown that poor, elderly, under-represented minorities show a significant and positive change in the individual’s perception of their overall quality of life. When the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire was given to the participants before and after spectacle wear a significant difference was found with wearing the glasses. The general health, general vision, ocular pain, and distance activities, as well as near activities, social functioning, color vision, peripheral vision, and mental health subscales compared to first administration of the survey were also significantly different when the spectacles were worn. This paper strongly supports how an individual’s quality of life can improve just by wearing glasses. It is unfortunate that so many cannot afford or do not have access to optometric eye and vision care.
In this same issue of OVD an article by Dr. Marie Bodack, Eye and Vision Assessment of Children with Special Needs in an Interdisciplinary School Setting, found that during a three year period of the 273 children with special needs who received eye examinations (about 1/3 of the children had been diagnosed with autism), 3.7% had amblyopia (lazy eye), 6% presented with an eye turn, and 11% had refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism) requiring correction. Approximately 2.5% were also referred for additional care because of ocular health problems. This paper supports the need for all with special needs to have comprehensive eye care by an optometrist.
And finally, Dr. Dominick M. Maino, OVD editor, wrote in his editorial, 3D in the Classroom: See Well, Learn Well, that the American Optometric Association’s (AOA), The 3Ds of 3D Viewing is great advice for the consumer. If you experience the 3Ds of 3D viewing (Discomfort, Dizziness and lack of Depth, when viewing 3D movies, television, video-games and 3D educational content), you should incorporate 2 more Ds – See your Doctor of Optometry, especially one who is a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD). Dr. Maino also emphasized the AOA’s recognition of the vision problems that cause the difficulties often associated with 3D viewing as a major public health issue. Although the research is just now beginning to be conducted in this area, it appears that problems with focusing, eye teaming and eye movement ability all play a role in the discomfort, dizziness and lack of depth experienced by those viewing simulated 3D. These binocular vision dysfunctions often affect not only how we enjoy our free time, but also how well we perform in school. The good news is that if you have these problems, those who belong to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development have vision rehabilitation/therapy programs available so that you can enjoy all that 3D has to offer.
This issue of OVD also has practice management articles, as well as photographs and information about COVD’s annual meeting recently held in Las Vegas.
About Optometry & Vision Development
Optometry & Vision Development (OVD) is a peer-reviewed open access journal indexed in the online Directory of Open Access Journals. The full text of these articles is available free from www.covd.org. OVD is an official publication of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development. Any questions may be addressed to the editor, Dominick M. Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A at dmaino@ico.edu or 312-949-7282.
About COVD
The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) is an international, non-profit optometric membership organization that provides education, evaluation, and board certification programs in behavioral and developmental vision care, optometric vision therapy, and visual rehabilitation. The organization is comprised of doctors of optometry, vision therapists, and other vision specialists. For more information on learning-related vision problems, optometric vision therapy, and COVD please visit www.covd.org or call 888.268.3770.
CONTACT:
Pamela R. Happ, CAE
COVD Executive Director
Phone: 888.268.3770
Email: phapp@covd.org
Website: www.covd.org
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