W C Maples1. 1. Northeastern State University College of Optometry, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Medical diagnoses such as headaches, diplopia, nausea, and asthenopia are conditions that are often treated with optometric vision therapy. Improvement of such subjective conditions after a regimen of therapy is often difficult to objectively quantify. The goal of this study was to verify the test-re-test reliability of a new clinical survey instrument, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) Quality of Life Outcomes Assessment, which allows the analysis of symptoms data. METHODS: The first-year class of optometry students at the Oklahoma College of Optometry at Northeastern State University were administered the instrument in a group setting on two different occasions, two weeks apart. Nineteen students completed both test and re-test. Statistical analysis by the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and paired t test were performed. RESULTS: Each subject reported some of the 30 symptoms on both test and re-test. The instrument was found to be reliable. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Analysis showed no significant differences in test-retest scores, either pooled or item-by-item. A paired t-test group and item analysis were insignificantly different between scores. Spearman's rho correlation for test-retest of each subject was 0.878. Eighty-nine percent (17 of 19) scored insignificantly different between administrations. Ninety percent of the items (27 of 30) were found to vary insignificantly between the two administrations. CONCLUSIONS: The COVD Quality of Life Outcomes Assessment is a reliable tool to measure changes in symptoms on the basis of optometric intervention--specifically, vision therapy.
BACKGROUND: Medical diagnoses such as headaches, diplopia, nausea, and asthenopia are conditions that are often treated with optometric vision therapy. Improvement of such subjective conditions after a regimen of therapy is often difficult to objectively quantify. The goal of this study was to verify the test-re-test reliability of a new clinical survey instrument, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) Quality of Life Outcomes Assessment, which allows the analysis of symptoms data. METHODS: The first-year class of optometry students at the Oklahoma College of Optometry at Northeastern State University were administered the instrument in a group setting on two different occasions, two weeks apart. Nineteen students completed both test and re-test. Statistical analysis by the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and paired t test were performed. RESULTS: Each subject reported some of the 30 symptoms on both test and re-test. The instrument was found to be reliable. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Analysis showed no significant differences in test-retest scores, either pooled or item-by-item. A paired t-test group and item analysis were insignificantly different between scores. Spearman's rho correlation for test-retest of each subject was 0.878. Eighty-nine percent (17 of 19) scored insignificantly different between administrations. Ninety percent of the items (27 of 30) were found to vary insignificantly between the two administrations. CONCLUSIONS: The COVD Quality of Life Outcomes Assessment is a reliable tool to measure changes in symptoms on the basis of optometric intervention--specifically, vision therapy.