The impact of visual impairment on the ability to perform activities of daily living for persons with severe/profound intellectual disability.
Vision loss slightly lowers ADL scores and walking speed in severe ID—so always screen eyes before you set goals.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dijkhuizen et al. (2016) watched adults with severe or profound intellectual disability do everyday tasks.
They scored how well each person washed, dressed, walked, and moved around.
Then they asked: does poor eyesight change these scores?
What they found
People who were also visually impaired scored a little lower on daily-living tasks.
They walked slower, too.
The drop was small, but it showed up every time.
How this fits with other research
Petras (1994) already told us vision problems are common in this group.
That survey found adults with developmental delay are ten times more likely to have eye trouble.
Annemarie’s team now adds: even mild eye trouble can chip away at ADL scores.
Hogg et al. (1995) showed you can speed up vocational tasks by cutting extra steps.
Put the two together—check vision first, then tweak the task layout—and you may get bigger ADL gains.
Why it matters
Before you write a goal for dressing, eating, or walking, screen for vision loss.
A quick check for glasses, cataracts, or field cuts can save months of slow progress.
If eyesight is poor, lower the ADL target a notch or add tactile prompts.
This tiny step keeps goals realistic and teams confident.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) as a component of participation is one of the factors that contribute to quality of life. The ability to perform ADL for persons experiencing severe/profound intellectual disability (ID) may be reduced due to their cognitive and physical capacities. However, until recently, the impact of the significantly prevalent visual impairments on the performance of activities of daily living has not yet been revealed within this group. AIM: The purpose of this prospective cross-sectional study was to investigate the impact of visual impairment on the performance of activities of daily living for persons with a severe/profound intellectual disability. METHOD: The Barthel Index (BI) and Comfortable Walking Speed (CWS) were used to measure the ability of performing activities of daily living (ADL) in 240 persons with severe/profound ID and having Gross Motor Functioning Classification System (GMFCS) levels I, II or III; this included 120 persons with visual impairment. The impact of visual impairment on ADL was analyzed with linear regression. RESULTS: The results of the study demonstrated that visual impairment slightly affects the ability of performing activities of daily living (BI) for persons experiencing a severe/profound intellectual disability. GMFCS Levels II or III, profound ID level, and visual impairment each have the effect of lowering BI scores. GMFCS Levels II or III, and profound ID level each have the effect of increasing CWS scores, which indicates a lower walking speed. A main effect of visual impairment is present on CWS, but our results do show a substantive interaction effect between GMFCS level III and visual impairment on Comfortable Walking Speed in persons with a severe/profound intellectual disability. CONCLUSIONS: Visual impairment has a slight effect on ability to perform ADL in persons experiencing severe/profound ID.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.10.001