2017 Volume 34 Issue 1 Pages 61-64
Purpose: To examine the acquisition status of the physical disability certificate for patients visiting the neuroophthalmology and strabismus/amblyopia services. Subjects: Patients who visited the neuroophthalmology or strabismus/amblyopia service at Kyoto University between September 2015 and June 2016 or the neuroophthalmology service at Kobe University between November 2016 and December 2016 were enrolled. Their clinical records were retrospectively reviewed for visual disturbances in order to determine whether they met the Japanese physical disability certification criteria. To study the factors associated with the failure to obtain a physical disability certificate, we used multivariate logistic regression models to evaluate factors such as visual acuity, visual field, sex, and age. Results: Among the patients who visited the services during the designated period, 56 had visual disturbance that met the physical disability certification criteria, but 23 (41.1%) of them did not obtain the certificate. The logistic regression analysis revealed that failure to meet the visual acuity criterion was the main risk factor for the failure to obtain the physical disability certificate (odds ratio, 4.59 [95% confidence interval, 1.15-21.44], P = 0.031). Conclusion: Ophthalmologists should pay attention to visual field defects as well as visual acuity when providing information regarding the physical disability certificate to eligible patients for commencing their low vision care.
