This publication is provided for historical reference only and the information may be out of date.

Appendix ASearch Strategies

Publication Details

Resources Searched

ECRI Institute information specialists searched the following databases for relevant information. Search terms and strategies for each resource appear below. Two sets of search results were reviewed for this topic. Searches for information on retinal prosthesis devices were conducted in all of the resources listed below. A second search (corresponding to Key Questions 1B and 1C) to identify literature on psychometric properties of outcome measures in a broader patient population (i.e., patients with low vision) and for a longer time period, was conducted in selected bibliographic databases as indicated below.

Search strategy for Questions 1B and 1C.

Table

Search strategy for Questions 1B and 1C.

Reimbursement

The following Web sites were searched for reimbursement policies: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), BCBS Alabama, BCBS of Massachusetts, BCBS of North Carolina, BCBS of Tennessee, CIGNA, Harvard Pilgrim, HealthPartners, Humana, Independence Blue Cross, Medica, Regence BCBS, United Healthcare, Wellmark BCBS.

Hand Searches of Journal and Gray Literature

Journals and supplements maintained in ECRI Institute's collections were routinely reviewed. Nonjournal publications and conference proceedings from professional organizations, private agencies, and government agencies were also screened. Other mechanisms used to retrieve additional relevant information included review of bibliographies/reference lists from peer-reviewed and gray literature. (Gray literature consists of reports, studies, articles, and monographs produced by federal and local government agencies, private organizations, educational facilities, consulting firms, and corporations. These documents do not appear in the peer-reviewed journal literature.)

Topic-specific Search Terms

The search strategies employed combinations of free-text keywords as well as controlled vocabulary terms including (but not limited to) the following concepts. Strategies for each bibliographic database follow this table.

Topic-specific Search Terms.

Table

Topic-specific Search Terms.

SEARCH STRATEGIES FOR RETINAL PROSTHESIS SYSTEMS (KEY QUESTIONS: 1A, 1B, 2-5)

EMBASE/MEDLINE (searched via Embase.com).

Table

EMBASE/MEDLINE (searched via Embase.com).

EMBASE.com Syntax.

Table

EMBASE.com Syntax.

PubMed (PreMEDLINE).

Table

PubMed (PreMEDLINE). English language, human

Table

PubMed Syntax.

Table

CINAHL. English language, human, exclude MEDLINE records

Table

CINAHL Syntax.

SEARCH STRATEGIES FOR RELIABLE AND VALID PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES IN PATIENTS WITH LOW VISION (KEY QUESTION 1C)

MEDLINE/PSYCINFO (searched via Ovid).

Table

MEDLINE/PSYCINFO (searched via Ovid).

Table

OVID Syntax.

EMBASE (searched via Embase.com).

Table

EMBASE (searched via Embase.com).

EMBASE.com Syntax.

Table

EMBASE.com Syntax.

PubMed (PreMedline).

Table

PubMed (PreMedline).

Table

PubMed Syntax.

Publication Details

Copyright

Copyright Notice

Publisher

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US), Rockville (MD)

NLM Citation

Fontanarosa J, Treadwell JR, Samson DJ, et al. Retinal Prostheses in the Medicare Population [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2016 Sep 30. (Technology Assessments, No. 103.) Appendix A, Search Strategies.

Search strategy for Questions 1B and 1C

Name	Date Limits	Platform/Provider
The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)	2000 through April 25, 2016	Wiley
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews)	2000 through April 25, 2016	Wiley
Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)	2000 through April 25, 2016	EBSCOhost
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) (part of the Cochrane Library)	2000 through April 25,2016	Wiley
EMBASE (Excerpta Medica)	2000 through April 25, 2016 1990 through April 25, 2016 (for KQ1C)	Embase.com
Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA) (part of the Cochrane Library)	2000 through April 25, 2016	Wiley
MEDLINE	2000 through April 25, 2016 1990 through April 25, 2016 (for KQ1C)	Embase.com OVIDSP
PUBMED (PreMEDLINE)	Searched April 25, 2016 Searched April 25, 2016 (for KQ1C)	NLM
U.K. National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) (part of the Cochrane Library)	2000 through April 25, 2016	Wiley
PsycINFO	1990 through April 25, 2016 (for KQ1C)	OVIDSP
Associations and Societies [websites and meeting abstracts]
American Academy of Ophthalmology	2013 through September 4, 2015	http://www.aao.org/
American Society of Retinal Specialists	2013 through September 4, 2015	https://www.asrs.org/
ARVO	2013 through September 4, 2015	http://www.arvo.org/
Retina Society	2013 through September 4, 2015	http://www.retinasociety.org/
Other Gray Literature Resources
ClinicalTrials.gov	Searched September 3, 2015	NIH
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) - Medicare Coverage Database	Searched September 9, 2015	CMS
ECRI Institute Library Catalog	Searched September 9, 2015	ECRI Institute
ECRI Institute Members Website	Searched September 4, 2015	ECRI Institute
Health Devices	Searched September 4, 2015	ECRI Institute
Healthcare Standards	2000 through September 4, 2015	ECRI Institute
Internet	Searched September 10, 2015	Google; Bing
Manufacturers	Searched September 8, 2015	Google; Bing; individual manufacturer websites
MediRegs	Searched September 15, 2015	Wolters Kluwer
MedlinePlus	Searched September 9, 2015	National Library of Medicine
Medscape	Searched September 9, 2015	WebMD
National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC)	Searched September 4, 2015	AHRQ
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) UK	Searched September 4, 2015	NHS
TRIP Database	2000 through September 9, 2015
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including Medical Device databases	Searched September 3, 2015	FDA

Topic-specific Search Terms

Concept	Controlled Vocabulary	Keywords
Retinal Prostheses	EMBASE (EMTREE) ‘ophthalmological prosthesis’/exp ‘ophthalmological implant’/exp ‘retinal implant’/exp retina/exp ‘visual prosthesis’/exp MEDLINE(MeSH) Exp “prostheses and implants”/ Exp retina/ Exp visual prosthesis/ CINAHL (MH “prostheses and implants+”) (MH “retina+) PsycINFO exp prostheses/ exp retina/	Alpha IMS Argus Artificial silicon retinal microchip ASR Epi-ret Bionic Bionics Institute Bionic Vision Boston retinal implant project electrode epiretinal “intelligent medical implants implant implants implanted implanting IRIS microchip Nidek Okayama ophthalmologic Optobionics OUReP photovoltaic pixium PRIMA prosthetic prosthesis retina retinal second sight STS Suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation Suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis Visus
Vision impairment	EMBASE (EMTREE) ‘blindness’/exp ‘low vision’/exp ‘retina disease’/exp ‘retinitis pigmentosa’/exp ‘retinitis’/exp ‘retina degeneration’/exp ‘retina pigment degeneration’/exp ‘visual impairment’/exp MEDLINE (MeSH) exp blindness/ exp retinal degeneration exp retinal diseases/ exp retinitis pigmentosa/ exp vision disorders/ exp vision, low/ exp visually impaired persons/ CINAHL (MH “blindness+”) (MH “Retinitis Pigmentosa+”) (MH “vision disorders+”) (MH “vision, subnormal+”) PsycINFO exp vision disorders/ exp blind/ exp eye disorders/	Blindness degenerat^* impair^* loss ‘low vision’ macular degeneration retina degeneration retinitis sight vision visual
Selected Outcomes	EMBASE (EMTREE) ‘quality of life’/exp ‘quality of working life’/exp ‘daily life activity’/exp ‘adl disability’/exp ‘visual system function’/exp MEDLINE (MeSH) exp “Quality of Life”/ exp “activities of daily living”/ exp “quality-adjusted life years”/ exp “disability evaluation”/ CINAHL (MH “activities of daily living+”) (MH “rehabilitation of vision impaired+”) (MH “Quality of Life+”) (MH “Quality of Working Life”) PsycINFO Exp “quality of life”/ Exp “quality of work life”/ Exp “activities of daily living”/ Exp “self care skills”/ exp visual perception/	activities of daily living adl bathe bathing bathroom cook cooking daily activity dress dressing drive driving eat eating hrQoL iadl mobility orientation orienting phone quality of life QoL shop shopping toilet^* visual adaptation visual function visual orientation walk walking
Measurement terms	EMBASE (EMTREE) ‘assessment of humans’/exp ‘eye disease assessment’/exp ‘functional status assessment’/exp ‘general health status assessment’/exp ‘outcome assessment’/exp ‘psychologic test’/exp psychometry/exp ‘quality of life assessment’/exp ‘quality of life index’/exp ‘visual system parameters’/exp MEDLINE (MeSH) exp Patient Outcome Assessment/ exp “Outcome Assessment (Health Care)”/ exp psychometrics/ exp psychological tests/ exp sickness impact profile/ exp questionnaires/ exp vision tests/ CINAHL (MH “disability evaluation+”) (MH “Psychometrics”) (MH “Measurement Issues and Assessments+”) (MH “Outcome Assessment”) (MH “Clinical Assessment Tools+”) (MH “Functional Assessment+”) (MH “Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index”) (MH “Psychological Tests+”) (MH “Questionnaires+”) PsycINFO Exp disability evaluation/ Exp psychometrics Exp measurement/ Exp inventories/ Esp questionnaires/	assess assessment clinometric clinimetric index instrument^* inventory inventories measure^* psychometric^* questionnaire^* scale scales test tests
Named Measurement Tools		Activity Inventory Basic Assessment of Light and Motion Basic Grating Acuity Brief Symptom Inventory” Daily Living Tasks Dependent on Vision (DLTV) Daily task performance questionnaire Freiburg VA test Functional Low-Vision Observer Rated Assessment (FLORA) Form Vision Assessment Functioning Questionnaire (VA LV VFQ) Goldmann visual field test Grating acuity test (GAT) Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) Landolt-C rings test Low Luminance Questionnaire (LLQ) Low Vision Letter Acuity Macular Disease Quality of Life (MacDQoL) Macular Disease Society Questionnaire (MDSQ) National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) NEI-VF1-25 Nine item questionnaire Night vision questionnaire (NVQ) Retinopathy Dependent Quality of Life measure (RetDQoL) Self Report and Observation of Performance Seven item questionnaire Spatial Mapping of Stimulated Visual Phosphene Fields Thirty-five item questionnaire VisQoL vision-related quality of life Veterans Affairs Low Vision Visual
Reliability/Validity	EMBASE (EMTREE) ‘discriminant analysis’/exp ‘measurement precision’/exp reliability/exp reproducibility/exp validity/exp ‘Rasch analysis’/exp ‘Validation study’/exp ‘comparative study’/exp psychometry/exp ‘outcomes research’/exp ‘observer variation’/exp reproducibility/exp MEDLINE (MeSH) Exp “Reproducibility of Results”/ Exp “Validation study”/ Exp “Comparative Study”/ Exp “observer variation”/ Exp “Health Status Indicators”/ Exp “reproducibility of results”/ Exp “discriminant analysis”/ CINAHL (MH “Precision”) (MH “Reliability and Validity+”) (MH “Reproducibility of Results”) PsycINFO exp Test Validity/ exp Statistical Validity/ exp test reliability/ exp Statistical Reliability/ exp Interrater Reliability/ exp item response theory/	Agreement ceiling effect clinimetric clinometric concordance consistency computer adaptive testing correlation cronbach's alpha dependability discriminative equivalence factor analysis floor effect generalizability homogeneity homogeneous indicator instrumentation intra-examiner inter-examiner inter-observer intra-observer inter-rater intra-rater interscale intra-technician inter-technician inter-tester intra-tester item bank kappa known group methods multitrait observer variation outcome precision qualitative^* rasch reliable reliability repeatable repeatability reproducible reproducibility responsive^* stability test-retest uncertainty valid^* variability

EMBASE/MEDLINE (searched via Embase.com)

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Retinal prostheses	(‘retinal implant’/exp OR ((‘visual prosthesis’/exp OR ‘ophthalmological prosthesis’/exp OR ‘ophthalmological implant’/exp) AND (retina/exp OR retina/de)) OR (implant^* OR prosthes^* OR prosthet^* OR stimluat^* OR microchip^* OR electrode^* OR photovoltaic^) NEAR/3 (retina OR retinal OR epiretina^ OR subretina^* OR transretina^* OR suprachoroidal)
2	Named Devices	(Argus^* OR (alpha next/2 IMS) OR (epi next/1 ret) OR “second sight” OR “intelligent medical implants” OR pixium OR “sts” OR “suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation” OR nidek OR “suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis” OR “bionics institute” OR “bionic vision” OR bionicvision OR “bionic eye” OR “boston retinal implant project” OR visus OR optobionics OR “asr” OR “artificial silicon retinal microchip” OR IRIS OR PRIMA OR “photovoltaic retinal prosthesis” OR OUReP OR okayama) AND (‘retinal implant’/exp OR ‘visual prosthesis’/exp OR ‘ophthalmological prosthesis’/exp OR ‘ophthalmological implant’/exp OR ((implant^* OR prosthes^* OR prosthet^* OR stimluat^* OR microchip^* OR electrode^* OR photovoltaic^* ) NEAR/3 (retina OR retinal OR epiretina^* OR subretina^* OR transretina^* OR ophthalmologic)))
3	Combine sets	1 OR 2
4	Limit by publication type	3 NOT (book OR Editorial OR erratum OR letter OR note OR ‘short survey’)/de OR (book OR Editorial OR erratum OR letter OR note OR ‘short survey’):it OR (book:pt)
5	Apply Limits	4 AND Limits: Py:2000-2016; humans

EMBASE.com Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
NEAR/n	= search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in any order
NEXT/n	= search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in the order specified
/	= search as a subject heading
exp	= “explodes” controlled vocabulary term (e.g., expands search to all more specific related terms in the vocabulary's hierarchy)
mj	= denotes a term that has been searched as a major subject heading
:de	= search in the descriptors field (controlled terms and keywords)
:lnk	= floating subheading
/lim	= limiter
:it,pt.	= source item or publication type
:ti.	= limit to title
:ti,ab.	= limit to title and abstract fields

PubMed (PreMEDLINE)

English language, human

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Retinal prostheses	(“Visual Prosthesis”[Mesh] OR “Prostheses and Implants”[Mesh]) AND “Retina”[Mesh] OR (implant^[tiab] OR prosthes^[tiab] OR prosthet^[tiab] OR stimluat^[tiab] OR microchip^[tiab] OR electrode^[tiab] OR photovoltaic^[tiab]) AND (retina[tiab] OR retinal[tiab] OR epiretina^[tiab] OR subretina^[tiab] OR transretina^[tiab])
2	Named devices	(Argus^* OR “alpha ims OR “alpha-ims” OR “epi ret” OR “epi-ret” OR “second sight” OR “intelligent medical implants” OR pixium OR “sts” OR “suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation” OR nidek OR “suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis” OR “bionics institute” OR “bionic vision” OR bionicvision OR “bionic eye” OR “boston retinal implant project” OR visus OR optobionics OR “asr” OR “artificial silicon retinal microchip” OR IRIS OR PRIMA OR “photovoltaic retinal prosthesis” OR OUReP OR okayama) AND (“Visual Prosthesis”[Mesh] OR ((implant^[tiab] OR prosthes^[tiab] OR prosthet^[tiab] OR stimluat^[tiab] OR microchip^[tiab] OR electrode^[tiab] OR photovoltaic^[tiab]) AND (retina[mh] OR retina[tiab] OR retinal[tiab] OR epiretina^[tiab] OR subretina^[tiab] OR transretina^[tiab] OR ophthalmologic[tiab])))
3	Combine sets	1 OR 2
4	Limit to Subfile	3 AND (“in process” [sb] OR publisher[sb])

PubMed Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
[mh]/[MeSH]	= controlled vocabulary term
[sb]	= subset
[ti]	= limit to title field
[tiab]	= limit to title and abstract fields
[tw]	= text word

CINAHL

English language, human, exclude MEDLINE records

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Retinal prostheses	(MH “prostheses and implants+”) AND (MH “retina+”) OR (implant^* OR prosthes^* OR prosthet^* OR stimluat^* OR microchip^* OR electrode^* OR photovoltaic^) N3 (retina OR retinal OR epiretina^ OR subretina^* OR transretina^*)
2	Named Devices	(Argus^* OR (alpha n2 IMS) OR “epi ret” OR “epi-ret” OR “second sight” OR “intelligent medical implants” OR pixium OR “sts” OR “suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation” OR nidek OR “suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis” OR “bionics institute” OR “bionic vision” OR bionicvision OR “bionic eye” OR “boston retinal implant project” OR visus OR optobionics OR “asr” OR “artificial silicon retinal microchip” OR IRIS OR PRIMA OR “photovoltaic retinal prosthesis” OR OUReP OR okayama) AND (implant^* OR prosthes^* OR prosthet^* OR stimluat^* OR microchip^* OR electrode^* OR photovoltaic^) AND (retina OR retinal OR epiretina^ OR subretina^* OR transretina^* OR ophthalmologic)))
3	Combine sets	1 OR 2
4	Exclude Medline records

CINAHL Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
Nn	= search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in any order
TI	= limit to title field
AB	= limit to title and abstract fields
MH	= MeSH heading
MJ	= MeSH heading designated as major topic
PT	= publication type

MEDLINE/PSYCINFO (searched via Ovid)

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Low vision/blindness terms
	MeSH	exp blindness/ OR exp retinitis pigmentosa/ OR exp vision disorders/ OR exp vision, low/ OR exp visually impaired persons/ OR exp retinal degeneration OR exp retinal diseases/ OR
	PsycInfo	exp vision disorders/ OR exp blind/ OR exp eye disorders/ OR
	Keywords	blindness OR ‘low vision’ OR ((vision OR sight) ADJ2 (impair^* OR loss OR low)) OR retinitis OR ((retina^* OR macula^) AND degenerat^) OR (retinitis ADJ1 pigment^*)

2	Selected Outcomes
	MeSH	exp “Quality of Life”/ OR exp “activities of daily living”/ OR exp “disability evaluation”/ OR exp “quality-adjusted life years”/ OR
	PsycINFO	exp “quality of life”/ OR exp “quality of work life”/ OR exp “activities of daily living”/ OR exp “self care skills”/ OR exp visual perception/ OR
	Keywords	“quality of life” OR “QoL” OR “hrQoL” OR (activity ADJ3 “daily living”) OR (activities ADJ3 “daily living”) OR “adl” OR “iadl” OR (daily ADJ3 activity) OR ((vision OR visual) ADJ3 (function^* OR orient^* OR adapt^* OR acquity)) OR walk OR walking OR bathe OR bathing OR dress OR dressing OR eat OR eating OR bathroom OR toilet^* OR cook OR cooking OR drive OR driving OR phone OR shop OR shopping OR mobility OR orientation OR orienting OR reading OR ((facial OR feature^* OR color^* OR pattern^) ADJ2 (recognition OR recogniz^))

3	Measurement terms
	MeSH	exp ^Patient Outcome Assessment/ or exp ^”Outcome Assessment (Health Care)”/ or exp ^psychometrics/ or exp ^psychological tests/ or exp ^sickness impact profile/ or exp ^questionnaires/ OR
	PsycINFO	exp ^disability evaluation/ or exp ^psychometrics/ or exp ^measurement/ or exp ^inventories/ or exp ^*questionnaires/ OR
	Keywords	(((psycho^* or clinimetr^* or clinometr^* or disability or disabled) and (test or tests or scale or scales or instrument^* or index or indices or measure^* or assessment or assess OR property OR properties OR characteristic^)) or (function^ adj2 assess^) or (measure^ adj2 propert^) or (measure^ adj3 characteristic^) or questionnaire^).ti,ab.

4	Named Measurement tools	“Daily Living Tasks Dependent on Vision” OR “DLTV” OR “Macular Disease Quality of Life” OR “MacDQoL” OR “Impact of Vision Impairment” OR “IVI” OR “Veterans Affairs Low Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire” OR “VA LV VFQ” OR “Activity Inventory” OR “National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire” OR “NEI-VFQ^” OR “Macular Disease Society Questionnaire” OR “MDSQ” OR “Low Luminance Questionnaire” OR “LLQ” OR “Retinopathy Dependent Quality of Life measure” OR “RetDQoL” OR “Night vision questionnaire” OR “NVQ” OR (item ADJ questionnaire) OR “Daily task performance questionnaire” OR “Functional Low Vision Observer Rated Assessment” OR “FLORA” OR (“Self Report” ADJ “Observation of Performance”) OR “Goldmann Visual Field test” OR “VisQoL” OR “grating acuity” OR “GAT” OR “Brief Symptom Inventory” OR “Freiburg VA test” OR (“Basic Assessment of Light” ADJ Motion) OR “BaLM” OR “Basic Grating Acuity” OR (landolt ADJ2 ring^) OR “NEI-VF1-25” OR “vision-related quality of life” OR “Low Vision Letter Acuity” OR “Spatial Mapping of Stimulated Visual Phosphene Fields” OR “Form Vision Assessment” OR “IogMAR” OR (Freiberg ADJ3 acuity) OR “FrACT” OR ((“early diabetic retinopathy study” OR “ETDRS”) ADJ1 acuity) OR ((Farnsworth OR chow) ADJ2 color) OR “brief symptom inventory”

5	Combine Sets	3 OR 4

6	Reliability/Validity/Reproducibility/ Responsiveness
	MeSH	exp “Reproducibility of Results”/ OR exp “Validation study” OR exp “Comparative Study”/ OR exp “observer variation”/ OR exp “Health Status Indicators”/ OR exp “reproducibility of results”/ OR exp “discriminant analysis”/ OR
	PsycINFO	exp Test Validity/ OR exp Statistical Validity/ OR exp test reliability/ OR exp Statistical Reliability/ OR exp Interrater Reliability/ OR exp item response theory/ OR
	Keywords	clinimetr^* OR clinometr^* OR (outcome ADJ1 measure^) OR “observer variation” OR “health status indicator” OR reproducib^ OR unreliab^* OR valid^* OR coefficient OR homogeneity OR homogeneous OR “internal consistency” OR (cronbach^* AND (alpha OR alphas)) OR (item AND (correlation^* OR selection^* OR reduction^)) OR agreement OR precision OR imprecision OR “precise values” OR (test ADJ1 retest) OR (reliab^ AND (test OR retest)) OR stability OR interrater OR inter-rater OR intrarater OR intra-rater OR intertester OR inter-tester OR intratester OR intra-tester OR interobserver OR inter-observer OR intraobserver OR intraobserver OR intertechnician OR inter-technician OR intratechnician OR intra-technician OR interexaminer OR inter-examiner OR intraexaminer OR intra-examiner OR interindividual OR inter-individual OR intraindividual OR intra-individual OR interparticipant OR inter-participant OR intraparticipant OR intra-participant OR kappa OR kappas OR repeatab^* OR ((replicab^* OR repeated) AND (measure OR measures OR findings OR result OR results OR test OR tests)) OR generaliza^* OR generalisa^* OR concordance OR (intraclass AND correlation^) OR discriminative OR “known group” OR “factor analysis” OR “factor analyses” OR dimension^ OR subscale^* OR (multitrait AND scaling AND (analysis OR analyses)) OR “item discriminant” OR (interscale ADJ correlation) OR “individual variability” OR (variability AND (analysis OR values)) OR (uncertainty AND (measurement OR measuring)) OR “standard error of measurement” OR sensitivity OR responsiveness OR ((minimal OR minimally OR clinical OR clinically) AND (important OR significant OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR (small^* AND (real OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR “meaningful change” OR “ceiling effect” OR “floor effect” OR “item response model” OR Rasch OR “Differential item functioning” OR “computer adaptive testing” OR “item bank” OR “cross-cultural equivalence”

7	Combine sets	1 AND 2 AND 5 AND 6

8	Remove unwanted publication types	7 NOT ((“column/opinion” OR “comment/reply” OR dissertation OR Editorial OR letter OR book).dt. OR book.pt. OR (letter/ or Editorial/ or news/ or comment/ or case report or case reports/ or note/ or conference paper/) or (letter or Editorial or news or comment or case reports or conference abstract^*).pt.)

9	Apply limits	Limits: Py:1990-2016; humans; English language

10	Remove duplicates

OVID Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
exp	= “explodes” controlled vocabulary term (e.g., expands search to all more specific related terms in the vocabulary's hierarchy)
.de.	= limit controlled vocabulary heading
.fs.	= floating subheading
.hw.	= limit to heading word
.md.	= type of methodology (PsycINFO)
.mp.	= combined search fields (default if no fields are specified)
.pt.	= publication type
.ti.	= limit to title
.tw.	= limit to title and abstract fields

EMBASE (searched via Embase.com)

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Low vision/blindness terms	‘blindness’/exp OR ‘low vision’/exp OR ‘retina disease’/exp OR ‘retinitis pigmentosa’/exp OR ‘retinitis’/exp OR ‘retina degeneration’/exp OR ‘retina pigment degeneration’/exp OR ‘visual impairment’/exp OR blindness OR ‘low vision’ OR ((vision OR sight) NEAR/2 (impair^* OR loss OR low)) OR retinitis OR ((retina^* OR macula^) AND degenerat^) OR (retinitis NEAR/1 pigment^*)
2	Selected Outcomes	‘quality of life’/exp OR ‘quality of working life’/exp OR ‘daily life activity’/exp OR ‘adl disability’/exp OR ‘visual system function’/exp OR “quality of life” OR “QoL” OR “hrQoL” OR (activity NEAR/3 “daily living”) OR (activities NEAR/3 “daily living”) OR “adl” OR “iadl” OR (daily NEAR/3 activity) OR ((vision OR visual) NEAR/3 (function^* OR orient^* OR adapt^* OR acuity)) OR walk OR walking OR bathe OR bathing OR dress OR dressing OR eat OR eating OR bathroom OR toilet^* OR cook OR cooking OR drive OR driving OR phone OR shop OR shopping OR mobility OR orientation OR orienting OR reading OR ((facial OR feature^* OR color^* OR pattern^) NEAR/2 (recognition OR recogniz^))
3	Measurement terms	‘assessment of humans’/exp/mj OR ‘eye disease assessment’/exp/mj OR ‘functional status assessment’/exp/mj OR ‘general health status assessment’/exp/mj OR ‘outcome assessment’/exp/mj OR ‘psychologic test’/exp/mj OR psychometry/exp/mj OR ‘quality of life assessment’/exp/mj OR ‘quality of life index’/exp/mj OR ‘visual system parameters’/exp/mj OR ‘questionnaire’/exp/mj OR (((psycho^* or clinimetr^* or clinometr^* or disability or disabled) and (test or tests or scale or scales or instrument^* or index or indices or measure^* or assessment or assess OR property OR properties OR characteristic^)) or (function^ NEAR/2 assess^) or (measure^ NEAR/2 propert^) or (measure^ NEAR/3 characteristic^) or questionnaire^):ti,ab
4	Named Measurement tools	“Daily Living Tasks Dependent on Vision” OR “DLTV” OR “Macular Disease Quality of Life” OR “MacDQoL” OR “Impact of Vision Impairment” OR “IVI” OR “Veterans Affairs Low Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire” OR “VA LV VFQ” OR “Activity Inventory” OR “National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire” OR (NEI NEXT/1 VFQ^) OR “Macular Disease Society Questionnaire” OR “MDSQ” OR “Low Luminance Questionnaire” OR “LLQ” OR “Retinopathy Dependent Quality of Life measure” OR “RetDQoL” OR “Night vision questionnaire” OR “NVQ” OR (item NEAR/1 questionnaire) OR “Daily task performance questionnaire” OR “Functional Low Vision Observer Rated Assessment” OR “FLORA” OR (“Self Report” NEXT/1 “Observation of Performance”) OR “Goldmann Visual Field test” OR “VisQoL” OR “grating acuity” OR “GAT” OR “Brief Symptom Inventory” OR “Freiburg VA test” OR (“Basic Assessment of Light” NEAR/1 Motion) OR “BaLM” OR “Basic Grating Acuity” OR (landolt NEAR/2 ring^) OR “NEI-VF1-25” OR “vision-related quality of life” OR “Low Vision Letter Acuity” OR “Spatial Mapping of Stimulated Visual Phosphene Fields” OR “Form Vision Assessment” OR “IogMAR” OR (Freiberg NEAR/3 acuity) OR “FrACT” OR ((“early diabetic retinopathy study” OR “ETDRS”) NEAR/1 acuity) OR ((Farnsworth OR chow) NEAR/2 color) OR “brief symptom inventory”
5	Combine Sets	3 OR 4
6	Reliability/Validity/Reproducibility/ Responsiveness	‘discriminant analysis’/exp OR ‘measurement precision’/exp OR reliability/exp OR reproducibility/exp OR validity/exp OR ‘Rasch analysis’/exp OR ‘Validation study’/exp OR ‘comparative study’/exp OR ‘outcomes research’/exp OR ‘observer variation’/exp OR clinimetr^* OR clinometr^* OR (outcome NEAR/1 measure^) OR “observer variation” OR “health status indicator” OR reproducib^ OR unreliab^* OR valid^* OR coefficient OR homogeneity OR homogeneous OR “internal consistency” OR (cronbach^* AND (alpha OR alphas)) OR (item AND (correlation^* OR selection^* OR reduction^)) OR agreement OR precision OR imprecision OR “precise values” OR (test NEAR/1 retest) OR (reliab^ AND (test OR retest)) OR stability OR interrater OR inter-rater OR intrarater OR intra-rater OR intertester OR inter-tester OR intratester OR intra-tester OR interobserver OR inter-observer OR intraobserver OR intraobserver OR intertechnician OR inter-technician OR intratechnician OR intra-technician OR interexaminer OR inter-examiner OR intraexaminer OR intra-examiner OR interindividual OR inter-individual OR intraindividual OR intra-individual OR interparticipant OR inter-participant OR intraparticipant OR intra-participant OR kappa OR kappas OR repeatab^* OR ((replicab^* OR repeated) AND (measure OR measures OR findings OR result OR results OR test OR tests)) OR generaliza^* OR generalisa^* OR concordance OR (intraclass AND correlation^) OR discriminative OR “known group” OR “factor analysis” OR “factor analyses” OR dimension^ OR subscale^* OR (multitrait AND scaling AND (analysis OR analyses)) OR “item discriminant” OR (interscale NEAR correlation) OR “individual variability” OR (variability AND (analysis OR values)) OR (uncertainty AND (measurement OR measuring)) OR “standard error of measurement” OR sensitivity OR responsiveness OR ((minimal OR minimally OR clinical OR clinically) AND (important OR significant OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR (small^* AND (real OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR “meaningful change” OR “ceiling effect” OR “floor effect” OR “item response model” OR Rasch OR “Differential item functioning” OR “computer adaptive testing” OR “item bank” OR “cross-cultural equivalence”
7	Combine sets/apply limits	1 AND 2 AND 5 AND 6 AND ([humans]/lim AND [english]/lim AND [1990-2016]/py)
8	Limit to EMBASE only records	7 AND [EMBASE]/lim
9	Limit to MEDLINE only records	7 AND [MEDLINE]/lim
10	Remove Medline records (captured in the Ovid search), limit to articles, articles in press (excludes publications from conferences, books, notes, Editorials, short surveys)	8 NOT 9 AND ([article]/lim OR [article in press]/lim OR [review]/lim)

EMBASE.com Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
NEAR/n	= search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in any order
NEXT/n	= search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in the order specified
/	= search as a subject heading
exp	= “explodes” controlled vocabulary term (e.g., expands search to all more specific related terms in the vocabulary's hierarchy)
mj	= denotes a term that has been searched as a major subject heading
:de	= search in the descriptors field (controlled terms and keywords)
:lnk	= floating subheading
:it,pt.	= source item or publication type
:ti.	=limit to title

PubMed (PreMedline)

Set Number	Concept	Search Statement
1	Low vision	Blindness[mh] OR “Retinitis Pigmentosa”[Mesh] OR vision disorders[mh] OR “Vision, Low”[Mesh] OR “visually impaired persons”[Mesh] OR “retinal degeneration”[Mesh] OR “retinal diseases”[Mesh] OR blindness[tiab] OR “low vision”[tiab] OR (vision[tiab] OR visual[tiab] OR sight[tiab]) AND (loss[tiab] OR impaired[tiab] OR impairment[tiab]) OR retinitis[tiab] OR ((retina^[tiab] OR macular[tiab]) AND degenerat^[tiab])
2	Outcomes	“Quality of Life”[Mesh] OR “activities of daily living”[Mesh] OR “disability evaluation”[Mesh] OR “quality-adjusted life years”[Mesh] OR “quality of life” OR “QoL” OR “hrQoL” OR “activities of daily living” OR “adl” OR “iadl” OR “daily activities” OR ((vision[tiab] OR visual[tiab]) AND (function^[tiab] OR orient^[tiab] OR adapt^[tiab])) OR walk[tiab] OR walking[tiab] OR bathe[tiab] OR bathing[tiab] OR dress[tiab] OR dressing[tiab] OR eat[tiab] OR eating[tiab] OR bathroom[tiab] OR toilet^[tiab] OR cook[tiab] OR cooking[tiab] OR drive[tiab] OR driving[tiab] OR phone[tiab] OR shop[tiab] OR shopping[tiab] OR mobility[tiab] OR orientation[tiab] OR orienting[tiab] OR reading[tiab] OR ((facial[tiab] OR feature^[tiab] OR color^[tiab] OR pattern^[tiab]) AND (recognition[tiab] OR recogniz^[tiab]))
3	Measurements	“Patient Outcome Assessment”[Mesh] OR “Outcome Assessment (Health Care)”[Mesh] OR psychometrics[Mesh] OR psychological tests[Mesh] OR questionnaires[Mesh] OR “sickness impact profile”[Mesh] OR “vision tests”[Mesh] OR “functional assessment” OR scale[tiab] OR scales[tiab] OR instrument^[tiab] OR index[tiab] OR measure^[tiab] OR assessment[tiab] OR assess[tiab] OR psychometric^[tiab] OR inventory[tiab] OR inventories[tiab] OR questionnaire^[tiab] OR test[tiab] OR tests[tiab]
4	Named Measurement Tools	“Daily Living Tasks Dependent on Vision” OR “DLTV” OR “Macular Disease Quality of Life” OR “MacDQoL” OR “Impact of Vision Impairment” OR “IVI” OR “Veterans Affairs Low Vision Visual Functioning Questionnaire” OR “VA LV VFQ” OR “Activity Inventory” OR “National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire” OR “NEI-VFQ” OR “Macular Disease Society Questionnaire” OR “MDSQ” OR “Low Luminance Questionnaire” OR “LLQ” OR “Retinopathy Dependent Quality of Life measure” OR “RetDQoL” OR “Night vision questionnaire” OR “NVQ” OR “item questionnaire” OR “Daily task performance questionnaire” OR “Functional Low Vision Observer Rated Assessment” OR “FLORA” OR (“Self Report” AND “Observation of Performance”) OR “Goldmann Visual Field test” OR “VisQoL” OR “grating acuity” OR “GAT” OR “Brief Symptom Inventory” OR “Freiburg VA test” OR “Basic Assessment of Light” OR “BaLM” OR “Basic Grating Acuity” OR ((landolt[tiab] AND (ring[tiab] OR rings[tiab])) OR “NEI-VF1-25” OR “vision-related quality of life” OR “Low Vision Letter Acuity” OR “Spatial Mapping of Stimulated Visual Phosphene Fields” OR “Form Vision Assessment” OR “IogMAR” OR (Freiberg[tiab] AND acuity) OR “FrACT” OR ((“early diabetic retinopathy study” OR “ETDRS”) AND acuity) OR ((Farnsworth[tiab] OR chow[tiab]) AND color) OR “brief symptom inventory”
5	Combine sets	3 OR 4
6	Reliability/Validity/ Reproducibility	“Reproducibility of Results”[Mesh] OR “validation study”[Mesh] OR “comparative study”[Mesh] OR “observer variation”[Mesh] OR “Health Status Indicators”[Mesh] OR “reproducibility of results”[Mesh] OR “discriminant analysis”[Mesh] OR clinimetr^* OR clinometr^* OR (outcome AND measure^) OR “observer variation” OR “health status indicator” OR reproducib^ OR unreliab^* OR valid^* OR coefficient OR homogeneity OR homogeneous OR “internal consistency” OR (cronbach^* AND (alpha OR alphas)) OR (item AND (correlation^* OR selection^* OR reduction^)) OR agreement OR precision OR imprecision OR “precise values” OR (test AND retest) OR (reliab^ AND (test OR retest)) OR stability OR interrater OR inter-rater OR intrarater OR intra-rater OR intertester OR inter-tester OR intratester OR intra-tester OR interobserver OR inter-observer OR intraobserver OR intraobserver OR intertechnician OR inter-technician OR intratechnician OR intra-technician OR interexaminer OR inter-examiner OR intraexaminer OR intra-examiner OR interindividual OR inter-individual OR intraindividual OR intra-individual OR interparticipant OR inter-participant OR intraparticipant OR intra-participant OR kappa OR kappas OR repeatab^* OR ((replicab^* OR repeated) AND (measure OR measures OR findings OR result OR results OR test OR tests)) OR generaliza^* OR generalisa^* OR concordance OR (intraclass AND correlation^) OR discriminative OR “known group” OR “factor analysis” OR “factor analyses” OR dimension^ OR subscale^* OR (multitrait AND scaling AND (analysis OR analyses)) OR “item discriminant” OR (interscale AND correlation) OR “individual variability” OR (variability AND (analysis OR values)) OR (uncertainty AND (measurement OR measuring)) OR “standard error of measurement” OR sensitivity OR responsiveness OR ((minimal OR minimally OR clinical OR clinically) AND (important OR significant OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR (small^* AND (real OR detectable) AND (change OR difference)) OR “meaningful change” OR “ceiling effect” OR “floor effect” OR “item response model” OR Rasch OR “Differential item functioning” OR “computer adaptive testing” OR “item bank” OR “cross-cultural equivalence”
7	Combine sets	1 AND 2 AND 5 AND 6
8	Remove unwanted publication types, non-human studies	7 NOT (comment[pt] OR Editorial[pt] OR letter[pt] OR news[pt] OR “Textbooks” [pt] OR “Book Reviews”[pt] OR “Book Illustrations”[pt] OR animal^[tiab] OR rat[tiab] OR rats[tiab] OR mouse[tiab] OR mice[tiab] OR goat^[tiab] OR pig[tiab] OR pigs[tiab] OR cadaver^[tiab] OR dog[tiab] OR dogs[tiab] OR monkey^[tiab] OR ape[tiab] OR apes[tiab])
9	Limit to inprocess citations	8 AND (“inprocess”[sb] OR publisher[sb] OR pubmednotmedline[sb])

PubMed Syntax

^*	= truncation character (wildcard)
[mh]/[MesH]	= controlled vocabulary term
[sb]	= subset
[ti]	= limit to title field
[tiab]	= limit to title and abstract fields
[tw]	= text word