title: Reliability of simultaneous visual field testing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test for differences in reliability and performance between traditional, isolated perimetry and simultaneous testing with 2 patients in the same room.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comparative case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 471 eyes of 261 subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients undergoing Humphrey visual field (VF) testing in the Kellogg Eye Center glaucoma clinic were screened. Patients who underwent VF testing with another patient in the same room ("double field") during the screening interval were included as subjects if a comparison isolated VF from the same patient ("single field") was obtainable from the clinic's records. An individual subject's performance and reliability on his/her double and single fields were compared using a paired t test. In addition, the double fields were stratified by technician-to-patient ratio, and their VF indices were compared using an independent 2-sample t test.
  
  
  METHODS
  False negatives, false positives, fixation losses, mean deviation, pattern standard deviation, VF index, VF duration, and technician-to-patient ratio.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences between single and double fields were found in the reliability or performance parameters. Test duration was longer in double fields than in single fields (6.1 vs. 5.9 minutes, P < 0.001). There were no significant differences found in reliability or performance indices when the double-field data were stratified by technician-to-patient ratio (1:2 vs. 2:2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no decrement in VF performance or reliability when patients undergo simultaneous testing with another patient in the same room. Busy clinical practices may be able to minimize costs and maximize efficiency by having 1 technician simultaneously supervise more than 1 test-taker in the same space.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors: Benjamin C
authors: BC
authors: Kramer
authors: David C
authors: DC
authors: Musch
authors: Leslie M
authors: LM
authors: Niziol
authors: Jennifer S
authors: JS
authors: Weizer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D058609:Visual Field Tests / Q000592:standards*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*