ObjectiveTo investigate the current status of visual disability in people with opportunistic diabetes based on the physical examination center, and explore its related factors. MethodsPeople who went to West China Hospital of Sichuan University (West China Hospital district and Wenjiang hospital district) for physical examination between January 2019 and March 2020 were selected. The subjects were those who had a history of diabetes or fasting blood glucose≥7 mmol/L or glycosylated hemoglobin≥6.5%. They were divided into two groups according to visual acuity. The physical examinees with low vision were the observation group, and the physical examinees with normal vision were the control group (the number of cases was twice that of the observation group). The relevant data of the two groups were observed and compared, and the risk factors of low vision were analyzed by logistic regression. ResultsA total of 1 636 physical examinees with diabetes were included. There were 158 cases in the observation group and 316 cases in the control group. 158 cases (203 eyes) had low vision, and the incidence was 6.20% (203/3272). The main diseases leading to low vision were cataract (92 cases, 58.23%), high myopia (32 cases, 20.25%) and diabetes retinopathy (20 cases, 12.66%). Logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors for low vision were age of diabetes patients, diabetes retinopathy, systolic blood pressure and glycosylated hemoglobin. ConclusionsThe incidence of low vision in diabetes population based on physical examination centers in Chengdu is low. Visual acuity examination should be strengthened for diabetes patients, especially the elderly, with diabetes retinopathy, high systolic blood pressure and glycosylated hemoglobin. Early effective prevention and treatment can reduce the damage to vision caused by diabetes.
Objective To explore the application effect of virtual reality (VR) technology in low vision teaching for optometry students. Methods Undergraduate students majoring in optometry at West China School of Medicine of Sichuan University were selected as the research subjects. The students enrolled in 2020 adopted the traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) teaching mode (LBL teaching group), while the students enrolled in 2021 adopted the VR teaching mode (VR teaching group). Both groups of students had studied the content of the same chapter on low vision, completed in class tests after learning, and completed a questionnaire survey. Results There were 28 students in the VR teaching group and 30 students in the LBL teaching group. There was no statistically significant difference in age and gender composition between the two groups of students (P>0.05). The in-class test scores of students in the VR teaching group were higher than those in the LBL teaching group [86.43±6.10 vs. 78.10±7.69, P<0.05)]. Except for “subjective discomfort with this teaching mode”, the differences in other evaluation results between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). VR teaching group students generally believed that applying VR technology to low vision teaching helped understand the visual experience and daily life status of low vision patients, improved learning efficiency and hands-on ability, reduced learning burden, and hoped to use this teaching mode routinely in other subject teaching. All students in the VR teaching group believed that this teaching mode was interesting, highly innovative, and enhanced teacher-student interaction.Conclusions Applying VR technology to low vision teaching can enable students to personally experience the impact of various diseases on patients’ visual function and daily life. This teaching method not only optimizes and improves teaching effectiveness, but also has a high acceptance rate among students, which is worth further promoting in future optometry teaching.