title: Letter contrast sensitivity changes in early diabetic retinopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the discriminative ability of letter contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual acuity (VA) in detecting functional losses in participants with type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  LogMAR VA and letter CS were measured on 20 type 2 diabetic and 24 age-matched control participants. The diabetic participants were sub-grouped according to the level of retinopathy present.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Letter CS was able to distinguish those participants with and without macular oedema and those with no or minimal diabetic retinopathy from the control group, whereas VA was not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Letter CS may be used as an effective screening tool to assess damage to the visual pathway of diabetic participants both with and without clinically detectable signs.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Eye Research, Queensland University of Technology.
authors.forename: Efty P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Stavrou
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000503:physiopathology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D014787:Vision Tests; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose