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Comment on: ‘The impact of visual function on staircase use performance in glaucoma’

Eye (2024)Cite this article

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The article by Su et al. [1] has identified and rightly highlights that binocular lower visual field impairment poses a potential risk of injury when going down stairs. It concludes that those affected ‘should be warned about stair safety’. However, no information is provided concerning how the clinician can help diminish this risk.

Those of us who are sighted have the facility to guide our movements by vision, by touch, and by memory. For example, tactile approaches are commonly needed in the dark to supplement visual guidance, while one can reach into a low cupboard without looking, and use both tactile and visual memory to retrieve a cup or a plate. The same principle can be applied for going down stairs at home, when memory can contribute substantially, but this does not work of course in new locations. In this context, rubbing the heal down the stair riser as a tactile strategy for negotiating stairs can prove very effective, and is an approach that can easily be taught to those with lower visual field impairment, whatever the cause. Additional strategies that can be used for negotiating uneven ground and stairs include holding onto the banister, the use of the long cane, or telescopic hiking poles to provide tactile guidance for the height of the ground ahead, both of which can facilitate country walking.

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References

  1. Su CC, Wang TH, Huang JY, Liao KM, Tsai LT. The impact of visual function on staircase use performance in glaucoma. Eye. 2024;38:357–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02696-5.

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  1. Department of Visual Science, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

    Gordon N. Dutton

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  1. Gordon N. Dutton
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Correspondence to Gordon N. Dutton.

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Dutton, G.N. Comment on: ‘The impact of visual function on staircase use performance in glaucoma’. Eye (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03018-z

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