Measuring changes in device use of a head-mounted low vision aid after personalised telerehabilitation: protocol for a feasibility study

Abstract

IntroductionA recent trend in low vision (LV) has been towards the use of portable head-mounted displays (HMDs) to enhance residual vision. The decision process around the (non-)use of such devices have been identified as multifactorial. Among important barriers identified in the context of magnifying LV aids were transportation issues and insufficient training. In recent years, telerehabilitation has become of growing interest in healthcare because it allows individuals to remain at home while receiving rehabilitation services. A recent pilot study indicated encouraging outcomes; however, very few applications of telerehabilitation for LV have been tested systematically.Methods and analysisTo help guide evidence-based practice recommendations for this modality, we will carry out a feasibility study to assess the recruitment, retention, accessibility and acceptability of an eventual fully randomised trial of telerehabilitation for people with LV using HMDs. We will recruit 60 participants aged 18+ years among prospective eSight Eyewear owners, randomised 1:1 into two parallel groups. The active intervention will be the telerehabilitation operated by a LV therapist; the control arm will be the current self-training standard provided by the device vendor. The primary feasibility outcome measures will be: time to recruit participants, loss to follow-up, accessibility and acceptability of the telerehabilitation (satisfaction of the users and LV therapist). Exploratory outcomes will be the impact of telerehabilitation on eSight Eyewear use behaviour (discontinuance rate), and validated measures of assistive-technology-related quality of life.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the Ethics Review Board of theCentre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation de Montréal métropolitain(CRIR# 1286–1217). Dissemination is planned via local, national and international healthcare conferences and peer-reviewed journal publications.

Head-mounted Visual Assistive Technology–related Quality of Life Changes after Telerehabilitation

“…The protocol of this prospective randomized intervention feasibility study has previously been published in more details. 24 The study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the institutional review board of the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain (CRIR no. 1286-1217).…”

Personalized Telerehabilitation for a Head-mounted Low Vision Aid: A Randomized Feasibility Study

“…The participants were enrolled through the School of Optometry of the Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The protocol has previously been published in detail, 22 was approved by the institutional review board of the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain (CRIR No. 1286-1217), and complied with the ethical standards for research with human participants defined by the Declaration of Helsinki.…”

“…Detailed exclusion criteria are available in the detailed protocol publication. 22 Fig. 1 summarizes the design of the study with each aspect described hereinafter.…”

“…The detailed interventions are described in the protocol publication. 22 Briefly, the control group received a self-training standard provided by eSight, including the eSkills learning and training guide, 23 which is provided when purchasing the device. This guide is a self-administered program that spans 1 hour per day for 1 month (30 hours) to be performed self-guided at home and is divided into 4 consecutive weeks of exercises.…”

“…The low vision therapist and participants shared common work materials composed of exercises that they could easily refer to: the eSkills learning and training guide 23 and digitized exercises extracted from the VisExc eccentric fixation program 24 (partially adapted from the McGill Low Vision Manual 25 ), as detailed in the published protocol. 22 Overall, common exercises of the eSkills were performed by both the control and the experimental groups. However, the VisExc program was performed by the experimental group exclusively.…”