Abstract
Purpose :
The aim of this study, which included a baseline cross-sectional study and a 3-year follow-up prospective study, was to investigate the association between glaucomatous visual field damage and driving cessation in subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
Methods :
A total of 211 POAG patients divided into 3 groups according to POAG severity (mild, moderate, or severe) in the better eye were enrolled along with 148 control subjects; participants were asked about changes in their driving status. In the 3-year follow-up study, 185 of the POAG patients and 80 of the controls annually reported their driving status. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the prevalence and incidence of driving cessation were estimated with a multiple logistic regression model.
Results :
In the original cross-sectional study, 11/148 (7%) members of the control group reported having given up driving over the previous 5 years; the corresponding figures for the mild POAG, moderate POAG, and severe POAG groups were 9/173 (5%), 0/22 (0%), and 5/22 (23%), respectively (p=0.001, Fisher's exact test), with severe POAG found to be associated with driving cessation after adjustment for age and gender (odds ratio 10.98 [95% confidence interval 2.69 - 44.75], ref control, p=0.001). In the follow-up study, the proportion of participants who ceased driving was 1/80 (1.3%) in the control group, 8/152 (5.3%) in the mild POAG group, and 7/33 (21.2%) in the moderate to severe POAG group (p=0.001, Fisher's exact test). Moderate to severe POAG was found to be associated with driving cessation after adjustment for age and gender (odds ratio 14.0 [95% confidence interval 4.3 - 390.3], ref control, p=0.001).
Conclusions :
Severe POAG is associated with driving cessation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.