Peter M Allen

Anglia Ruskin University | ARU · Department of Vision and Hearing Sciences

Aim The aim of this study is to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementing physical activity promotion into eyecare services, from the perspective of eyecare professionals. Subject and methods Eleven eyecare professionals were recruited for qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes within the interview da...

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the difference of running with or without a guide on running performance (100 m, 200 m and 400 m) for athletes with a vision impairment (VI). Design: Data including athletes' and guides' sex, age and race times were extracted from 11 elite competitions. Results: Male athletes predominantly ran without...

Background: Golf is a moderate-intensity physical activity that provides positive physical and mental health benefits. However, the inclusiveness of the sport for individuals with disabilities globally is unknown. Objective: To characterize the demographics and disability characteristics of individuals engaging in disability golf globally. It wa...

Research suggests adults with visual impairment would increase their physical activity (PA) if they were advised to by a professional working in visual impairment services. However, there are no training programs which are targeted at enabling these professionals to promote PA. Therefore, this study aims to inform a UK-based training program which...

Background Paralympic swimmers with vision impairment (VI) currently compete in one of the three classes depending on their visual acuity (VA) and/or visual field. However, there is no evidence to suggest that a three-class system is the most legitimate approach for classification in swimming, or that the tests of VA and visual field are the most s...

Purpose This paper discusses a collaboration between sociologists and optometrists that involved, first, an investigation of communication and interaction in eye examinations and, second, a transformation of the findings into assessable impact. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how from the start of this project close cooperation between...

Objectives The relationship between consuming ≥2 servings of fruits and ≥3 servings of vegetables a day, which has been identified as optimal for health (i.e., adequate fruit/vegetable consumption), and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is largely unknown. Therefore, using data from six LMICs, we investiga...

Purpose Lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) is a clinical sign that has been associated with dry eye disease (DED) and contact lens discomfort (CLD). This study describes the development, validation and graders’ preference of a new photographic scale for LWE, the Photographic Lid Wiper Epitheliopathy (PLWE) scale. Methods The PLWE grading scale was dev...

Vision-impaired (VI) golf is a global para-sport currently played under several different classification systems under different bodies. This study aimed to gather expert opinion to determine whether the current classification systems are fit for the purpose intended and to identify any particular issues where VI impacts the game of golf for the di...

Objectives: This study aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to participation in vision impaired (VI) golf. Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 VI golfers, 10 guides, and 5 novices during the British VI Golf Open tournament in August 2021. Results: Qualitative content analysis identified the benefits, facilitators,...

Purpose (1) To identify if adults with uncorrectable sight loss would increase their physical activity (PA) following advice from general healthcare, eyecare or sight loss service professionals. (2) To identify what resources could be provided alongside advice from a professional to facilitate PA. Materials and methods Survey data from 100 UK adul...

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Purpose: Retinoscopy is a skill that requires the integration of procedural skill and declarative knowledge. Whilst the actual technique is simple, retinoscopy is a complex skill to acquire and is one that students often find challenging. This study compared the strategies that novices, third-year students and experts use when performing retinosco...

Green social prescribing, which includes the referral of patients to nature-based activities, could exacerbate inequalities between people with disabilities and people without. Research suggests fishing could be more inclusive relative to other outdoor sports. To understand if fishing is an inclusive sport, and the potential benefits and barriers t...

Introduction Music-based interventions are used to improve well-being in individuals who are psychologically vulnerable and have long-term illnesses. To date, no study has systematically assessed the literature on music-based interventions aimed at improving well-being in people who have a vision impairment (VI). The purpose of the current protocol...

Evidence is presented for intermediate, wholistic visual representations of objects and non-objects that are computed online and independent of visual attention. Short-term visual priming was examined between visually similar shapes, with targets either falling at the (valid) location cued by primes or at another (invalid) location. Object decision...

Background: Physical activity (PA) is essential for almost all facets of health; however, research suggests that PA levels among populations with sight loss are critically low. The aim of this review was to identify the correlates of PA among people with sight loss in high income countries, to inform future interventions and policies. Methods: M...

When using a bimanual tool to strike an object, most people place their preferred hand closer to the striking end. In sports, a player is deemed to adopt a ‘right- or left-handed’ stance depending on the hand that is lower on the club or bat. Research has suggested there is an advantage in going against this convention by placing the preferred hand...

Currently, there is limited research reporting the symptoms of long COVID among athletes, and the recommendations for athletes returning to competition/training who have experienced long COVID symptoms. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the recommendations for returning athletes who have experienced long COVID symptoms....

Fantasy football (“soccer” in North America, Australasia, and certain other countries) is a rapidly growing online game with over seven million individuals playing the Official Premier League version alone. Whilst there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence associating the game with mental health concerns, to date there has been no empirical resear...

Purpose To establish the time course of lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) in established CL wearers after a single day (6–10 h) of daily disposable contact lens (CL) wear, the following day post-CL removal and 1-week after CL discontinuation. Methods Twenty-one symptomatic (CLDEQ-8 score ≥ 12) habitual wearers of MyDay® silicone hydrogel daily dispos...

Background The Wilkins Rate of Reading Test (WRRT) enables rapid measurement of reading speed using text passages that have no semantic content and demand minimal word recognition skills. It is suited to applications where the primary interest is in the influence of visual and ocular motor factors on reading rate. Methods We obtained estimates of...

Paralympic swimmers with vision impairment (VI) currently compete in one of three classes depending on their visual acuity (VA) and/or visual field. However, there is no evidence to suggest that a three-class system is the most legitimate approach for classification in swimming, or that the tests of VA and visual field are the most suitable. An evi...

Effect of lighting on pattern related visual stress in individuals with specific learning disability Authors: Krithica Srinivasan1, Peter M. Allen2, Gopee Krishnan3, Arnold Wilkins4 1. Department of Optometry, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India 2. Vision and Hearing Sciences Research Centre...

Purpose Vision impairment (VI) may impact a person’s functional ability resulting in a loss of independence, anxiety, depression, social isolation and reduced quality of life. Caregivers also experience similar problems due to the increased burden placed on them. Support to address these difficulties encountered by those with VI and their caregiver...

To minimise the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic, optometric practices had to restructure their service provision in order to provide a safe eyecare environment for their patients. These changes included the introduction of new pathways, enhanced infection control procedures, changes to assessment routines and greater use of remote consultati...

Purpose Meaningfully grouping individuals with tinnitus who share the common characteristics (i.e., subgrouping, phenotyping) may help tailor interventions to certain tinnitus subgroups and hence reduce outcome variability. The purpose of this study was to test if the presence of tinnitus subgroups are discernible based on hearing-related comorbidi...

Efficacy of low-dose atropine to reduce myopia progression among Indian children Dear Editor, The prevalence of myopia across the globe continues to increase at an alarming rate and it is estimated that almost half of the world's population will be myopic by the year 2050, with 10% of them being highly myopic. [1] Following a similar trend to the w...

Abstract This study examined the social representation of hearing loss and hearing aids in people with hearing loss (PHL) in India, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and the United States using Social Representation Theory. The study helps to understand collective view of PHL about hearing loss and hearing aids. The results will aid to develop...

Background There is currently limited literature on the association between visual impairment and suicidal thoughts and behaviours, especially among older adults from low/middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, we aimed to investigate the associations of objectively measured distance visual impairment with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts amon...

The role of accommodation in myopia development and progression has been debated for decades. More recently, the understanding of the mechanisms involved in accommodation and the consequent alterations in ocular parameters has expanded. This International Myopia Institute white paper reviews the variations in ocular parameters that occur with accom...

Classification within the sport of vision impairment (VI) shooting is based upon the athlete’s visual function. This study aimed to determine whether more than one class of competition is needed within VI shooting on the basis of visual field loss. Qualification scores of 23 elite athletes were obtained at World Championship events in prone and sta...

Abstract Background and Objective: Despite the negative consequences of hearing loss, people with hearing loss (PHL) wait about 10 years before seeking professional help and adopt hearing aid. Much of the knowledge in hearing help-seeking and hearing aid adoption have used attitude theories and stigma theory. However, the strategies developed base...

Purpose: To assess the change in Near Induced Transient Myopia (NITM) and other accommodation parameters, before and after undergoing LASIK surgery for myopia correction. Methods: Twenty-nine myopic subjects were recruited from a tertiary eye hospital in India. Age range was 21 to 35 years with an average age of 26.1 ± 3.5 years. Mean spherical...

The prevalence of myopia is increasing extensively worldwide. The number of people with myopia in 2020 is predicted to be 2.6 billion globally, which is expected to rise up to 4.9 billion by 2050, unless preventive actions and interventions are taken. The number of individuals with high myopia is also increasing substantially and pathological myopi...

Objective The visibility of the pink ball used in day/night Test cricket has been under scrutiny, with recent research suggesting cricketers find the pink ball less visible at dusk under floodlights. With increasing interest in this match format, this study sought to investigate elite umpires’ opinions pertaining to the visibility of the pink crick...

Objective: The aim of the current study was to examine the social representation (SR) of hearing aids in people with hearing loss (PHL) in India, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (US). Design: The study used a cross-sectional survey design. The data collected by using a free association task...

Objectives: The International Paralympic Committee requires international federations to develop and implement sport-specific classification guidelines based on scientific evidence. Performance tests are key to developing new evidence-based criteria in football for athletes with vision impairment (VI). Therefore, the aim of this study was to devel...

In Para sport, the aim of classification is to minimize the impact of impairment on the outcome of competition. Despite requirements of the International Paralympic Committee Athlete Classification Code for classification to be evidence-based and sport-specific, sports for athletes with VI, including football, use the same generic classes across al...

Significance: High-, long-, and triple-jump athletic events may need to consider whether it is appropriate to group vision-impaired athletes in the same classification with loss of different visual functions, and a greater emphasis may need to be placed on the visual field (VF) within the current classification system used. Purpose: Athletes wit...

Tinnitus can be a debilitating hearing-related symptom. Access to evidence-based tinnitus interventions remain limited. Tele-audiology can assist by providing a clinically and cost-effective tinnitus management route. This chapter highlights how this is made possible by focusing on one form of tele-audiology, namely an internet-based intervention....

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and individual sports federations have established the need to develop evidence-based systems of classification for athletes with vision impairment (VI) that may differ depending on the visual demands of each sport. As a consequence, research has been conducted that led to a new classification system for...

Purpose: In late 2019, a new coronavirus capable of infecting humans, SARS-CoV-2, was identified in Wuhan, China. The resultant respiratory disease was subsequently named COVID-19. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care optometry practices only remained open to deliver essential or emergency eye care. This study aimed to...

Aim To establish contact lens wear and care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Method A 58-item anonymous online survey was distributed during the period 30th April to 10th May via Qualtrics. The survey explored: a) demographic characteristics (age, sex, general health and where they were living during lockdown), b) changes in their...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted delivery of healthcare, economic activity, and affected social interactions. Identifying and supporting those most affected by the pandemic is required. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the pandemic on individuals with tinnitus and to identify mediating factors. Methods: Thi...

Significance: The Delphi analysis presented here highlights the need for a sport-specific evidence-based classification system for track athletics for athletes with a vision impairment (VI). This system may differ for different race distances. Further research is required to develop a useful test battery of vision tests for classification. The iss...

Purpose: Variability in the use of ophthalmic dyes to diagnose lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) has led to division in the literature and clinical practice. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate whether the use of a non-optimal methodology to identify LWE had a potential for false negatives; in which LWE was overlooked. Patients and metho...

Introduction Obesity has been associated with poor vascular health, but not in a Spanish population. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate associations between obesity and cataract, wearing glasses or contact lenses, and trouble seeing in a large representative sample of the Spanish adult population. Methods Cross‐sectional data from the Spa...

Background Hearing loss can have an effect on the physical, psychosocial, and cognitive wellbeing of an individual. Despite the research on attitudes and stigma associated with hearing loss, people with hearing loss (PHL) continue to delay seeking help. Thus, it is vital to look at alternative theories which have been successfully used in disabilit...

Objective Cricket administrators have started scheduling long-form matches which finish at night and are played with a pink as opposed to a red ball. However, there are reports that the pink ball may introduce new dangers and alter performance. The aim of this study was to investigate professional cricketers’ opinions about the visibility of the pi...

Aim Contact lens wearers need to maintain optimal hygiene practices during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimise contact-lens complications including microbial keratitis and corneal infiltrative events. This online survey (UK and Ireland) explored contact lens wearers’ compliance behaviours, attitudes and concerns during the pandemic. Method The 60-it...

Introduction: Tinnitus experiences differ widely. A greater understanding of the core processes underlying these variations is needed. Moreover, meaningful definitions for different subgroups are required to better manage this heterogeneous population. The objective of the present research was to contribute toward the understanding of tinnitus hete...

A masked randomised control design compared the effectiveness of precision ophthalmic tints in improving the recognition of emotion in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fourteen children aged 10–14 with ASD and 14 control children matched on verbal and non-verbal IQ, wore spectacles with coloured lenses to complete two tasks that involved the observ...

Purpose Lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) is a clinical sign that has been associated with dry eye disease. This study used a semi-automated method to identify the effect of drop instillation and post-dye viewing time on the absorption of lissamine green (LG) and sodium fluorescein (NaFl) on the upper eyelid in order to ascertain the optimal identific...

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-rated eyesight and handgrip strength in a large, representative population of older adults. Methods Data were from 7433 older adults (≥52 years) participating in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Linear regression was used to analyze the association between sel...

Despite tinnitus being a prevalent and distressing complaint interventions are not always available. Barriers include the high cost, the involvement of numerous specialists often resulting in multiple appointments and sparse provision of evidence-based tinnitus interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy. This talk is intended to be thought...

This review aimed to identify the range of Internet interventions for audio-vestibular disorders and their outcomes

Background/aims To report the protocol of a trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and mechanism of action of low-dose atropine (0.01%) eye-drops for reducing progression of myopia in UK children. Methods Multicentre, double-masked, superiority, placebo-controlled, randomised trial. We will enrol children aged 6–12 years with myopia of −0...

The role of eye and hand dominance in the development of sporting expertise has received considerable attention in the literature. Mann, Runswick & Allen 1 found that professional cricket batsmen were 7.1 times more likely to adopt a reversed stance (i.e. a right-handed athlete playing in a left-handed style and vice versa) than inexperienced batsm...

Introduction: There is increasing awareness and concern about mental health disorders among elite athletes at various stages of their career. Little is known about elite athletes' knowledge of such disorders and of their understanding of the intervention options available to them. The aim of this study was to obtain information regarding elite socc...

The rate of reading test in which randomly ordered common words are read aloud has found use in optometric and educational practice as a means of assessing visual aspects of reading largely independently of comprehension. English and Kannada versions of the rate of reading test were administered to 761 children aged between 9 and 15 years. These ch...

Revised evidence-based classification criteria introduced for shooting for athletes with vision impairment (VI shooting) suggest that athletes with impaired contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual acuity (VA) should be eligible for inclusion in the sport but should all eligible athletes compete against each other in the same “class” or is more than on...

Measurement of the amplitude of accommodation is established as a procedure in a routine optometric eye examination. However, clinical methods of measurement of this basic optical function have several sources of error. They are numerous and diverse, and include depth of focus, reaction time, instrument design, specification of the measurement end-...

Title: Improving accessibility of an Internet-intervention for tinnitus Abstract: An Internet-based tinnitus intervention for use in the USA can address barriers that weaken the provision of tinnitus-related services. Although such interventions exist, their suitability for this population was questioned. The aim of this study was to adapt an Inte...