Abstract
Purpose :
Twilight & low luminance conditions challenge vision, even more so for elderly patients with degenerative disease. With the aging of the population, there’s a clinical need to quickly assess patients who encounter such difficulties. We evaluated 5 putative candidate clinical tests that might have a high correlation with a low luminance questionnaire (LLQ).
Methods :
Following Informed Consent, n= 30 veterans (26 m, 4 f), ages 63.5 SD 11.4, without AMD (AREDS Simplified Scale 1), or retinal pathology / significant cataract, were recruited into a 6 month prospective, placebo controlled RCT assessing supplemental carotenoids against night vision performance. Baseline Data (time = 1 pre-supplementation data) assessed a global composite 32 item LLQ (Owsley et al, IOVS, 2006; 47: 528–535) against 1 degree macular pigment optical density MPOD (QuantifEye®), Dark Adaptometry (DAR / Adapt Dx®), presence / absence of fundus short wavelength AF macula defects (Optos), photostress recovery (MDD2), photophobia (LUX 5000) and distance EDTRS acuity with / without a 2.0 du filter. Individual correlations, linear and stepwise regression analysis assessed these 5 variables in constructing the predictive model.
Results :
OD / OS were evaluated separately, as difficulties identified in the LLQ can result from subclinical monocular anatomical / functional deficits. Table 1 correlates 5 baseline measures vs. the LLQ. MPOD reached statistically predictive LLQ outcome with an accuracy of 33% and 11% for OD and OS respectively. For OD, two predictive baseline parameters (MPOD and DAR) individually predicted 17.5% and 14% respectively. For OS, two predictive baseline parameters, predicted 8.6% and 2.4% respectively.
Conclusions :
Self-assessed global low luminance performance correlates with macular pigment optical density and dark adaptation even in patients without retinal disease.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.