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Review
. 2023 Jan-Mar;16(1):3-11.
doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2022.03.003. Epub 2022 May 12.

The impact of low vision on social function: The potential importance of lost visual social cues

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Review

The impact of low vision on social function: The potential importance of lost visual social cues

Susanne Klauke et al. J Optom. 2023 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Visual cues usually play a vital role in social interaction. As well as being the primary cue for identifying other people, visual cues also provide crucial non-verbal social information via both facial expressions and body language. One consequence of vision loss is the need to rely on non-visual cues during social interaction. Although verbal cues can carry a significant amount of information, this information is often not available to an untrained listener. Here, we review the current literature examining potential ways that the loss of social information due to vision loss might impact social functioning. A large number of studies suggest that low vision and blindness is a risk factor for anxiety and depression. This relationship has been attributed to multiple factors, including anxiety about disease progression, and impairments to quality of life that include difficulties reading, and a lack of access to work and social activities. However, our review suggests a potential additional contributing factor to reduced quality of life that has been hitherto overlooked: blindness may make it more difficult to effectively engage in social interactions, due to a loss of visual information. The current literature suggests it might be worth considering training in voice discrimination and/or recognition when carrying out rehabilitative training in late blind individuals.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Face perception; Low vision; Vision rehabilitation; Voice recognition.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None.

Figures

Fig 1
Figure 1
Schematic model of potential relationships between vision loss and reduced quality of life. Vision loss can reduce quality of life in a wide variety of ways, including restrictions in both physical and practical (e.g. driving a car) mobility and difficulties reading. The loss of pleasurable activities and social contact worsens depressive or anxiety symptoms. The relationship is bidirectional: depression can lead to a further withdrawal from pleasurable and/or social activities. In this review we focus on the need for blind and vision impaired individuals to rely more heavily on non‐visual information to recognize individuals and understand their emotions. The resulting difficulties in social processing may provide a causal route to social anxiety and depression.

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