People With Central Vision Loss Have Difficulty Watching Videos

PURPOSE: People with central vision loss (CVL) often report difficulties watching video. We objectively evaluated the ability to follow the story (using the information acquisition method). METHODS: Subjects with CVL (n = 23) or normal vision (NV, n = 60) described the content of 30-second video clips from movies and documentaries. We derived an objective information acquisition (IA) score for each response using natural-language processing. To test whether the impact of CVL was simply due to reduced resolution, another group of NV subjects (n = 15) described video clips with defocus blur that reduced visual acuity to 20/50 to 20/800. Mixed models included random effects correcting for differences between subjects and between the clips, with age, gender, cognitive status, and education as covariates. RESULTS: Compared to both NV groups, IA scores were worse for the CVL group (P < 0.001). IA reduced with worsening visual acuity (P < 0.001), and the reduction with worsening visual acuity was greater for the CVL group than the NV-defocus group (P = 0.01), which was seen as a greater discrepancy at worse levels of visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS: The IA method was able to detect difficulties in following the story experienced by people with CVL. Defocus blur failed to recreate the CVL experience. IA is likely to be useful for evaluations of the effects of vision rehabilitation.