Visual perception alterations in COVID-19: a preliminary study

María Begoña Coco-Martín; Luis Leal-Vega; Irene Alcoceba-Herrero; Ainhoa Molina-Martín; Dolores de-Fez; María José Luque; Carlos Dueñas-Gutiérrez; Juan Francisco Arenillas-Lara; David P Piñero

doi:10.18240/ijo.2023.01.01

Visual perception alterations in COVID-19: a preliminary study

Int J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jan 18;16(1):1-9. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2023.01.01. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Group of Applied Clinical Neurosciences and Advanced Data Analysis, Department of Medicine, Dermatology and Toxicology, University of Valladolid, Valladolid 47005, Spain.
² Group of Optics and Visual Perception, Department of Optics, Pharmacology and Anatomy, University of Alicante, Alicante 03690, Spain.
³ Department of Optics, and Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Valencia, Valencia 46100, Spain.
⁴ COVID-19 Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University Clinical Hospital of Valladolid, Valladolid 47003, Spain.
⁵ Stroke Unit, Department of Neurology, University Clinical Hospital of Valladolid, Valladolid 47003, Spain.
⁶ Clinical Optometry Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, Vithas Medimar International Hospital, Alicante 03016, Spain.

Abstract

Aim: To compare the visual perception (color and chromatic-achromatic contrast vision) of a small cohort of COVID-19 patients at the time of infection and after 6mo with that of a healthy population matched for sex and age.

Methods: A total of 25 patients (9 females, 16 males, mean age: 54±10y) with COVID-19 hospitalized in the COVID-19 Unit of the University Clinical Hospital of Valladolid were recruited for this preliminary study. Visual perception, as determined by monocular measurement of contrast sensitivity function (CSF) and color vision was assessed in each patient using the Optopad test. The results obtained were then compared with those of a sample of 16 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (5 females, 11 males, mean age: 50±6y) in which the same measurement procedure was repeated. Statistically significant differences between groups were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Measurements were repeated after a minimum follow-up period of 6mo and statistically significant differences between the two time points in each group were assessed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Results: Discrimination thresholds (color and chromatic-achromatic contrast vision) and their corresponding sensitivity, calculated as the inverse of the discrimination threshold, were evaluated. Analysis of the data revealed higher contrast threshold results (i.e., worse contrast sensitivity) in the COVID-19 group than in the control group for all spatial frequencies studied in the Optopad-CSF achromatic test and most of the spatial frequencies studied in the Optopad-CSF chromatic test for the red-green and blue-yellow mechanisms. In addition, color threshold results in the COVID-19 group were also significantly higher (i.e., worse color sensitivity) for almost all color mechanisms studied in the Optopad-Color test. At 6mo, most of the differences found between the groups were maintained despite COVID-19 recovery.

Conclusion: The present results provide preliminary evidence that visual perception may be impaired in COVID-19, even when the infection has passed. Although further research is needed to determine the precise causes of this finding, analysis of CSF and color vision could provide valuable information on the visual impact of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; color vision; contrast sensitivity function; visual perception.

International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.