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Vision DisordersNCT02680223

Efficacy of Coloured Overlays and Lenses for Reading Difficulty

A study testing Precision tinted lenses and Non-beneficial tinted lenses in people with Vision Disorders and Reading Disabilities, run by City, University of London at 1 site in United Kingdom.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This is a randomised controlled trial with the aim of testing the efficacy of coloured overlays and coloured lenses for the relief of visual stress and reading difficulties in children and young adults. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 8 to 100 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Vision Disorders, Reading Disabilities
What is being tested?
Precision tinted lenses and Non-beneficial tinted lenses
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
40 participants
Where
1 siteUnited Kingdom
Study dates
Jan 2016to Dec 2019
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 8 to 100 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Individuals with visual stress or reading disability aged 8 years and over.

Who cannot join

  • Ocular or systemic disease
  • Intellectual disability

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United Kingdom1 site
  • City University London

    London, EC1V 0HB

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

Official title: Efficacy of Coloured Overlays and Lenses for Adults With Reading Difficulty

This is a randomised controlled trial with the aim of testing the efficacy of coloured overlays and coloured lenses for the relief of visual stress and reading difficulties in children and young adults.

Read the detailed description

Participants will be adults aged from 8 years, with symptoms of visual stress (discomfort when reading or experiencing perceptual symptoms when reading such as letters moving or distorted) or with a diagnosed reading difficulty (dyslexia). Participants will be recruited from the City University London optometry clinic and the City University London Learning Success unit. Participants within this age range and with visual stress will be eligible to participate. Potential participants with an ocular or systemic condition with possible impact on vision (e.g. amblyopia or diabetes respectively) or with intellectual disability will be excluded from the study. Each potential participant will undergo an eye examination prior to participation, during which the following tests will be conducted:

Prior to study entry:

History and symptoms Direct ophthalmoscopy (to check for ocular abnormality) Retinoscopy and subjective refraction (to quantify corrected and uncorrected refractive error) Cover tests (to look for any eye misalignment)

Baseline tests on study entry:

Each eligible participant who agrees to take part in the study will undergo testing with coloured overlays, to determine whether a particular overlay appears to be beneficial in terms of reducing difficulty or discomfort while reading. If so, the participant will be provided with the overlay to use for a period of two weeks, to determine whether it is consistently beneficial when reading during that period. In addition, the Wilkins Rate of Reading Test (WRRT) will be carried out at this baseline stage with and without the overlay.

Follow-up test 1:

The participant will attend a further appointment at the two week time point, and if the overlay was beneficial, an addition test will be carried out using the Intuitive Colorimeter, to determine the exact hue, saturation and intensity of coloured lenses that offer the most relief from difficulty or discomfort while reading. Once this colour has been determined, the hue will be modified to find the closest colour at which the participant first loses benefit (the point at which the discomfort or difficulty returns). Each colour setting (beneficial and non-beneficial) will be noted and the participant will be provided with spectacle lenses tinted exactly to one of these colour specifications. In a crossover design, the order in which true or control lenses will be provided to each participant will be determined by random number generation. Allocation will be carried out by personnel who are not researchers on this study, and who know the order (true lens tint first or second) as 1 and 2. Ordering of tinted spectacles will be handled by the personnel who are not researchers on the study, and this information will not be accessible by the researchers. Thus, tinted lens ordering will not be shared with the researchers, who will not know whether each participant is wearing the beneficial or non-beneficial tint, and so will be masked. Similarly, participants will be unaware whether they are wearing the true or control tint, at any time during their participation. The non-beneficial tint will be very similar to the beneficial tint, so neither researchers nor participants will be able to determine this. On this occasion the participant will also be asked to describe the difficulties he/she has experiences when reading with and without the coloured overlay.

Follow-up test 2:

After one month wearing the first pair of tinted lenses, reading speed will be measured again with the first pair of tinted lenses, and the participant will be asked again about their experience of reading difficulties while wearing these glasses. The participant will be asked to spend one week without any tinted lenses, and to return for a further visit after that week. After this period, the second pair of tinted lenses will be provided, to be worn for a further month.

Follow-up test 3:

Reading speed will be measured again with the second pair of tinted lenses and the participant will again be asked about their experience of reading difficulties while wearing these glasses.

Statistical analysis The main outcome measures are rates of reading provided by the two reading tests, with the two tinted lens types, the overlay, and without any tint. These are quantitative tests and the results will be compared between the two groups using an unpaired t-test, and within individuals (between baseline and follow-up tests) using a repeated measures analysis of variance. In addition, qualitative data are obtained from participants' descriptions of their experience of reading difficulty at different stages of the study. These responses will be analysed using NVivo software to look for themes.

Being tested
Precision tinted lenses, Non-beneficial tinted lenses
Medical subject headings
Vision Disorders, Dyslexia

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Precision tinted lensesDevice

    Tinted lens for patient with reading difficulty or visual stress

  • Non-beneficial tinted lensesDevice

    Tinted lenses that are unlikely to help reading difficulty or visual stress

Study groups in NCT02680223
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Precision tinted lensesActive comparatorPrecision tinted lenses will be provided for one month.
Receives: Device: Precision tinted lenses
Non-beneficial tinted lensesSham comparatorTinted lenses at a colour different from but not easily distinguishable from the precision tinted will be provided for one month.
Receives: Device: Non-beneficial tinted lenses

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Rate of reading

    Wilkins rate of reading test

    Measured: 3 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Feb 2016 (estimated)
  2. Study startJan 2016
  3. Primary completionDec 2019
  4. Study completionDec 2019

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator
Enrolment
40 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02680223
Sponsor's protocol ID
BA_2015
Status last verified
Aug 2019
First submitted
2 Feb 2016
Last updated
27 Jan 2020
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Wilkins AJ, Evans BJ, Brown JA, Busby AE, Wingfield AE, Jeanes RJ, Bald J. Double-masked placebo-controlled trial of precision spectral filters in children who use coloured overlays. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 1994 Oct;14(4):365-70.

    PubMed 7845693
  • Evans BJ, Stevenson SJ. The Pattern Glare Test: a review and determination of normative values. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2008 Jul;28(4):295-309. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-1313.2008.00578.x.

    PubMed 18565084
  • Bouldoukian J, Wilkins AJ, Evans BJ. Randomised controlled trial of the effect of coloured overlays on the rate of reading of people with specific learning difficulties. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2002 Jan;22(1):55-60. doi: 10.1046/j.1475-1313.2002.00002.x.

    PubMed 11829008
  • Monger L, Wilkins A, Allen P. Identifying visual stress during a routine eye examination. J Optom. 2015 Apr-Jun;8(2):140-5. doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2014.10.001. Epub 2014 Nov 11.

    PubMed 25455572
  • Allen PM, Dedi S, Kumar D, Patel T, Aloo M, Wilkins AJ. Accommodation, pattern glare, and coloured overlays. Perception. 2012;41(12):1458-67. doi: 10.1068/p7390.

    PubMed 23586285
  • Wilkins AJ, Jeanes RJ, Pumfrey PD, Laskier M. Rate of Reading Test: its reliability, and its validity in the assessment of the effects of coloured overlays. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 1996 Nov;16(6):491-7.

    PubMed 8944196
  • Creavin AL, Lingam R, Steer C, Williams C. Ophthalmic abnormalities and reading impairment. Pediatrics. 2015 Jun;135(6):1057-65. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-3622.

    PubMed 26009619

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Precision tinted lenses and Non-beneficial tinted lenses in people with Vision Disorders and Reading Disabilities, run by City, University of London at 1 site in United Kingdom.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Jan 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Rate of reading (time frame: 3 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02680223, which also lists 7 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Jan 2020.

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