Relationship between fixation stability measured with MP-1 and reading performance

• Published in: Ophthalmic & physiological optics 2013-09, Vol.33 (5), p.611-617
• Main Authors: Amore, Filippo M, Fasciani, Romina, Silvestri, Valeria, Crossland, Michael D, de Waure, Chiara, Cruciani, Filippo, Reibaldi, Alfredo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cohort Studies; Female; fixation; Fixation, Ocular - physiology; Humans; Male; microperimeter; Middle Aged; Reading; reading speed; Vision Disorders - physiopathology; Visual Field Tests - instrumentation; Visual Field Tests - methods; Visual Fields - physiology; visual impairment
• ISSN: 0275-5408; 1475-1313
• DOI: 10.1111/opo.12048

Background People with visual impairment have reduced reading performance, which is thought to be related to unstable or eccentric fixation. New microperimeters such as the MP‐1 offer straightforward analysis of fixation stability. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fixation stability and reading speed in a large cohort of people with diverse causes of visual impairment and to verify the correlation between reading speed and different methods for the quantification of fixation. Methods The better eye of one hundred and twenty subjects was assessed. Fixation values were obtained from the MP‐1 microperimeter. Reading speed was evaluated using newspaper text with magnifiers if required. Results The poorest fixation stability and reading performance was found in people with age‐related macular degeneration while the best fixation was in retinitis pigmentosa subjects. A linear relationship was found between reading speed and the proportion of fixations within 2° (r² = 0.51, p