Improved automated perimetry performance in elderly subjects after listening to Mozart.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the performance of automated perimetry of elderly subjects naïve to AP after listening to a Mozart sonata.


BACKGROUND
Automated perimetry (AP) is a psychophysical test used to assess visual fields in patients with neurological disorders and glaucoma. In a previous study, Fiorelli et al. showed that young subjects who listened to a Mozart sonata prior to undergoing AP performed better in terms of reliability than those who did not listen to the sonata.


METHODS
Fifty-two AP-naïve, normal subjects underwent Automated perimetry (SITA 24-2). The study group (25 subjects) underwent AP after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, and the control group (27 subjects) underwent Automated perimetry without prior exposure to the music.


RESULTS
The study group had significantly lower false negative rates and a lower visual field reliability score than the controls (P=0.04 and P=0.04, respectively). The test time was shorter for the study group (P=0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that elderly subjects, when exposed to the Mozart sonata immediately before AP testing, have lower false negative rates and lower visual field reliability scores when compared with an age- and gender-matched control group. Our results differ from those of Fiorelli et al. who found lower false positive rates and less fixation loss in addition to lower false negative rates.


CONCLUSIONS
Listening to a Mozart sonata seems to improve automated perimetry reliability in elderly subjects.
Marques
Junia Cabral
JC
Santa Casa of São Paulo, Department of Ophthalmology, São Paulo/SP, Brazil. junia_marques@yahoo.com.br
Vanessa
Adriana Chaves Oliveira
AC
Fiorelli
Macedo Batista
MB
Kasahara
Niro
N
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D058609:Visual Field Tests / Q000379:methods*