WEDNESDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Low-vision night mobility devices benefit patients who have severe night blindness associated with retinitis pigmentosa, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development. Many patients are so severely affected that they use a sighted guide or eliminate outside trips after dark.
Rickilyn Mancil, M.A., of the Hefner Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury, N.C., and colleagues compared the effectiveness of ITT Night Vision Viewers, which are monocular devices that are strapped to the head, with the Wide-Angle Mobility Lamp (WAML), a high-powered modified flashlight, in 27 patients with night blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa.
The researchers found that both devices improved nighttime travel compared with nighttime travel with no device. Overall, the WAML provided better travel efficiency -- equivalent to that measured in daytime.
"Further investigation should include other conditions associated with night-vision disability that are of higher incidence in the population (e.g., age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts) and evaluating other types of low-vision night mobility devices (e.g., Maglight, Stinger, miners' lights, etc.) that are smaller in size and have a longer battery life than the WAML," the authors conclude.
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