Coloured overlays improve reading speed and reading experience in patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome

IF 1.5 4区心理学 Q4 NEUROSCIENCES

Vision Research Pub Date : 2025-01-28 DOI:10.1016/j.visres.2025.108550

Kajsa Gode , Sarah Weström , Jan Johansson

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

High prevalences of visual dysfunction and reading-related symptoms have been found in patients with rehabilitation needs after COVID-19 infection. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of coloured overlays on reading speed and reading experience. Twenty-nine patients (45.2 ± 11.3 years) with reading- and vision-related impairments after Covid-19 infection were included. Symptoms were assessed with the Visual Discomfort Scale and Mental Fatigue Scale. A visual function assessment was performed by a licensed optometrist. Coloured overlays were tried out individually and the Wilkins Rate of Reading test was used to measure the effect on reading speed in words per minute (wpm). The mean reading speed with overlays was 133.1 ± 37.2 and 124.9 ± 39.6 wpm without (t = 3.7, df = 28, p < 0.01). Fifteen patients (51.7 %) read faster by median 9.9 % (5.0–70.8 %). Most of the patients (83.3 %) experienced positive visuo-perceptual effects when using the overlay. A high prevalence of visual function problems was found. The Visual Discomfort Scale score was positively correlated with Mental Fatigue Scale score (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) and improvement in reading speed (r = 0.48, p = 0.03). The overlays showed promise as a means for alleviating visual discomfort and improve reading speed. Additional findings suggest that interventions targeting visual function and mental fatigue also need to be considered. The improvement in reading with the overlays and its positive correlation with visual discomfort score seem consistent with the attribution of reading difficulty and perceptual distortion to cortical hyperexcitability, a feature that have been indicated after Covid-19.

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来源期刊

Vision Research 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

16.70%

发文量

111

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： Vision Research is a journal devoted to the functional aspects of human, vertebrate and invertebrate vision and publishes experimental and observational studies, reviews, and theoretical and computational analyses. Vision Research also publishes clinical studies relevant to normal visual function and basic research relevant to visual dysfunction or its clinical investigation. Functional aspects of vision is interpreted broadly, ranging from molecular and cellular function to perception and behavior. Detailed descriptions are encouraged but enough introductory background should be included for non-specialists. Theoretical and computational papers should give a sense of order to the facts or point to new verifiable observations. Papers dealing with questions in the history of vision science should stress the development of ideas in the field.