Abstract
Purpose: :
determine if excursions away from home are confined to more nearby destinations in glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) subjects as compared to individuals with normal sight.
Methods: :
Sixty control subjects with normal vision, 79 glaucoma subjects with bilateral visual field loss from glaucoma, and 34 AMD subjects with either bilateral or severe unilateral loss of visual acuity had their location tracked every 15 minutes between 7am and 11pm for 7 days using a cellular tracking device. Locations outside the home area were mapped using ArcGIS and excursions were defined for each individual as sequential space-time locates away from home. The maximum distance away from home was calculated for each out-of-home excursion and averaged over all excursions taken by the individual over the study week. Group differences in these excursion distances were evaluated after adjusting for age, race, gender, and population density of subjects’ home location.
Results: :
The average excursion distance of control subjects was 6.8 miles (Interquartile range [IQR] = 3.2 to 9.2 miles), as compared to 7.8 miles for glaucoma subjects (IQR: 2.2 to 8.2) and 4.4 miles for AMD subjects (IQR: 1.9 to 5.8 miles). In multivariable regression models, average excursion distance was not significantly associated with disease status, age, race, gender, or the population density of the subject’s home location. Overall, 20% of control subjects had an average excursion distance greater than 10 miles away from home, as compared to 22% of glaucoma subjects and 6% of AMD subjects. In logistic regression models, both control and glaucoma subjects were more likely to have excursions distances greater than 10-miles away from home when compared to AMD subjects (odds ratio [OR] = 4.00, p = 0.082, odds ratio [OR] = 4.39, p = 0.058, respectively). Age was also a significant factor in analyses with older individuals traveling closer to home, with both a smaller average excursion distance and lower percentage of times traveling outside 10 miles, compared to younger individuals.
Conclusions: :
Older individuals and those with AMD, but not glaucoma, appear to restrict how far they travel outside the home. This constriction of life space may have an important impact on quality of life.
Keywords: quality of life • low vision