Seeing Through Their Eyes - Towards Defining Visual Frailty in Ageing
The goal of this observational study is to define visual frailty and refine monitoring for an ageing population. It involves piloting a visual frailty assessment tool in a cohort of patients aged 60 and above with a known diagnosis of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion (PAEP), Anne Rowling Clinic which is hosting the NHS Low Visual Aid Clinic, or any other NHS Lothian facility treating patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The main questions it aims to answer are: * What is visual frailty and how can it be assessed or predicted in the global ageing population using visual acuity, reading performance, functional status, mental health and systemic co-morbidities? * What is the relationship between visual acuity, reading performance, ocular diagnosis, co-morbidities, mental health, and functional status? Participants will have the following data collected from them from either Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, Anne Rowling Clinic which is hosting the NHS Low Visual Aid Clinic, or any other NHS Lothian facility treating patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD): * Visual acuity (both distance and near) * Reading performance * Functional status * Mental health * Co-morbidities Data will also be collected remotely (by phone call) from both the participants and their carers/relatives about their perceptions of visual frailty. Expert opinion will be sought from optometrists and ophthalmologists about the concept of visual frailty using an online survey.
• Participants should be residents of Scotland aged 60 years and above with a known diagnosis of advanced AMD.
• The patients should be receiving treatment from Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion (PAEP) for at least 6 months and should be responding positively to the treatment. This is to rule out poor results due to either not receiving medication or non-compliance.
• The participants should be able to provide informed consent before taking part in the study.