Abstract
Purpose:
To identify the association of clinical visual field parameters and driving performance in glaucoma patients.
Methods:
Fifty-one glaucoma patients with visual acuity at least 20/40 of better eye and visual field loss for at least one eye were recruited. The parameters in Humphrey 30-2 monocular visual field test and binocular Esterman visual field test (EVFT) were correlated with National Eye Institute Vision Function Questionnaire. Fisher's exact test was used to determine if there are nonrandom associations between driving performance and visual field defects.
Results:
The mean Esterman efficiency score and mean monocular visual field mean deviation of better eye were 93.43±10.49 and -8.37±7.01dB, respectively. Patients in group of Esterman efficiency score < 90 or monocular visual field test mean deviation < -10.0 dB of better eye, subjectively experienced statistically significant difficulty in driving at night or in difficult conditions (e.g. bad weather, rush hour, freeway, or city traffic), when compared with that in Esterman efficiency score >90 or mean deviation > -10.0 dB (driving at night in EVFT group: 80% (score≦90) versus 33.3% (score>90) with fisher’s test P= 0.012, or in Humphrey test group: 66.7% (MD≦-10) versus 32.4% (MD>-10; fisher’s test P=0.033); driving in difficult conditions in EVFT group: 80% (score≦90) versus 33.3% (score>90) with fisher’s test P= 0.012, or in Humphrey test group: 66.7% (MD≦-10) versus 30.3% (MD>-10) with fisher’s test P= 0.027). However, under the condition of driving in familiar places during the daytime, there is no statistically significant difference in Humphrey test groups (P=0.079).
Conclusions:
We described that binocular EVFT also could perform a valuable tool in assessing driving performance in glaucoma patients. This study revealed the tendency of driving difficulty in dark or difficult conditions in glaucoma patients with moderate to severe visual field loss (binocular Esterman efficiency score < 90 or monocular visual field test mean deviation < -10 dB in better eye).
Keywords: 758 visual fields •
753 vision and action •
669 quality of life