Driving performance in patients with mild to moderate glaucomatous clinical vision changes.
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between clinical measures of visual function and driving-related skills in patients with glaucoma who had good visual acuity in at least one eye and mild to moderate visual field loss.


METHODS
Twenty-five patients with glaucoma and twenty-nine age-equivalent normally sighted control subjects were included in the study. We tested each patient on an interactive driving simulator and collected vision data, including Lighthouse visual acuity, Goldmann and Humphrey visual fields, and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity. Information about real-world accident history for the previous 5-year period was obtained.


RESULTS
The glaucoma patients did not have significantly more simulator or real-world accidents than the normally sighted group. There were no significant differences between the groups in performance on seven of the eight simulator indexes that were measured. Of the clinical visual function measures, only lower contrast sensitivity in the eye with better contrast sensitivity correlated with driving skills, including slower speeds (r(24) = 0.58, p < or = 0.01), more lane boundary crossings (r(24) = -0.54, p < or = 0.01), and longer braking response times (r(24) = -0.60, p < or = 0.01) for the patient group.


CONCLUSIONS
Reduced contrast sensitivity may be important in indicating the level of driving skills for individuals with glaucoma, who have normal or near-normal visual acuity and mild to moderate visual field loss.
Szlyk
Janet P
JP
Department of Research and Development, Chicago VA Health Care System, West Side Division, 820 South Damen Avenue (M/C 151), Chicago, IL 60612, USA. janeszly@uic.edu
Taglia
Daniel P
DP
Paliga
Jennifer
J
Edward
Deepak P
DP
Wilensky
Jacob T
JT
D001334:Automobile Driving; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index