Driving performance of glaucoma patients correlates with peripheral visual field loss.
OBJECTIVE
To identify clinical vision measures that are associated with the driving performance of glaucoma patients who have visual field loss and visual acuity better than 20/100 and to compare the driving performance of glaucoma patients with the driving performance of a group of age- and sex-equivalent individuals without eye disease.


METHODS
Forty patients with glaucoma and 17 normally sighted control subjects participated in this study.


METHODS
Clinical vision data, consisting of visual acuity, letter contrast sensitivity, and visual fields, were collected. Driving performance was assessed by (1) an interactive driving simulator that measured 7 indices of performance (including number of accidents) and (2) the self-reported accident involvement for the past 5 years.


METHODS
Driving simulator performance and real-world, self-reported accident involvement.


RESULTS
The number of accidents as measured on the driving simulator in the glaucoma group was significantly correlated with three Goldmann visual field measures: combined horizontal extent (rho = -0.47, P = 0.01), total horizontal extent (rho = -0.49, P = 0.007), and total peripheral extent (rho = -0.55, P = 0.002). There were no statistically significant correlations between the driving performance of the glaucoma group and the visual acuity or contrast sensitivity measures. When compared with the control group, a significantly greater proportion of the glaucoma group reported having at least one real-world accident within the past 5 years (Fisher exact test, P = 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
Visual field reduced to less than 100 degrees of horizontal extent may place patients with peripheral field loss at greater accident risk. A higher incidence of real-world and simulator accidents was found for the group with glaucoma.
Szlyk
Janet P
JP
Research and Development Service, Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. janeszly@uic.edu
Mahler
Carolyn L
CL
Seiple
William
W
Edward
Deepak P
DP
Wilensky
Jacob T
JT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013997:Time Factors; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields