Low Vision Occupational Therapy in Parkinson's Disease
Low Vision Occupational Therapy in Parkinson's Disease
The primary aim of this study is to determine whether low-vision occupational therapy
 improves quality of life in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients. Low-vision occupational
 therapy has not been previously studied in PD patients, and we suspect that this is a
 beneficial treatment option for PD patients as vision impairment is common in the PD patient
 population. Our primary objective will assess whether quality of life was improved following
 a low-vision occupational therapy session.
This project will be an exploratory study that will evaluate the benefits of low vision
 occupational therapy in the treatment of PD using the Revised Self-Report Assessment of
 Functional Visual Performance (R-SRAFVP) as the primary outcome measure. This tool assesses
 33 vision-dependent ADLs ranging from personal care, leisurely activities, clothing
 management, meal preparation, etc. Patients are able to rank their ability to complete these
 tasks as independent, minimally difficult, moderately difficult, greatly difficult, unable,
 or not applicable. This will allow us to capture potential changes in the patient's ability
 to complete vision-specific ADLs following low vision occupational therapy. In addition, we
 will also evaluate quality of life using the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), to
 compare this broad outcome measure with the R-SRAFVP.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  18 and older

 -  seen at UAB Movement Disorders Clinic

 -  diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's Disease

 -  able to read, speak, and understand spoken English.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  minors

 -  cognitively impaired