Screening for vision problems in neurorehabilitation – A Nordic survey.

Research Objectives: To develop a survey exploring the current hospital practice in screening for vision problems (VP) in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) in the Nordic countries.

Design: A survey study. A questionnaire with 22 items was developed in Danish and Norwegian to explore screening procedures for VP in hospital departments treating patients with ABI. This abstract presents the Danish pilot study.

Setting: Two stroke units in two Danish hospitals participated in the study; one with an established interdisciplinary vision team and one without a vision team.

Participants: From each department an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, a neuropsychologist, a speech- and language therapist and a physician were invited to participate. Eleven complete questionnaires were included.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Knowledge of clinical practice of screening for VP in ABI patients and relevance and applicability of the survey.

Results: Participants reported that they found the survey relevant. The majority (73%) found that the survey contained an appropriate number of items. At both hospitals' participants were unfamiliar with several of the standardized tests mentioned in the questionnaire and/or never used them There were different routines, and distributions of responsibility. E.g., in the hospital without an interdisciplinary team, the physician had a significant role in functional screening, whereas these tests were used by occupational- and physical therapists in the other hospital.

Conclusions: The study support the assumption that there is no standardized practice in Denmark when screening for vision problems after ABI. Danish results will contribute to increased knowledge and future clinical guidelines in screening for VP and promote appropriate care and rehabilitation for VP after ABI in the Nordic countries.

Author(s) Disclosures: None of the authors has any conflicts to declare.