Background: after blow visual impairment may exacerbate the impact of other impairments forward overall disability and negatively influence rehabilitation.

Background: after blow visual impairment may exacerbate the impact of other impairments forward overall disability and negatively influence rehabilitation. Objective: to examine the visual status of patients after blow and determine whether this can be improved through simple interventions. Design: prospective close attention Setting: stroke rehabilitation unit in a Belfast teaching hospital. Subjects: 77 consecutive patients admitted for rehabilitation after acute pat Methods: full optometric and ophthalmic assessment within 2 weeks of admission. Results: of 70 patients with glasses, 19 did not have their glasses in hospital before prompting and 18 had glasses in unacceptable condition. Twenty patients had impaired visual acuity (6/12 or worse) with existing glasses (if helpful); 11 of these improved to better than 6/12 with refractive correction. Conclusions: blow professionals need to enquire about patients' spectacles and assess their condition. Patients with reduc visual acuity in the absence of significant non-refractive disease should be referr to an optometrist: in this series 14% of patients had visual impairment which benefited from refractive correction.

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