Detecting Visual Function Abnormality with a Contrast-Dependent Visual Test in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
In addition to diabetic retinopathy, diabetes also causes early retinal neurodegeneration and other eye problems, which cause various types of visual deficits. This study used a computer-based visual test (Macular Multi-Function Assessment (MMFA)) to assess contrast-dependent macular visual function in patients with type 2 diabetes to collect more visual information than possible with only the visual acuity test. Because the MMFA is a newly developed test, this study first compared the agreement and discriminative ability of the MMFA and the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) contrast acuity charts. Then symbol discrimination performances of diabetic patients and controls were evaluated at 4 contrast levels using the MMFA. Seventy-seven patients and 45 controls participated. The agreement between MMFA and ETDRS scores was examined by fitting three-level linear mixed-effect models to estimate the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The estimated areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to compare the discriminative ability of diseased versus non-diseased participants between the two tests. The MMFA scores of patients and controls were compared with multiple linear regression analysis after adjusting the effects of age, sex, hypertension and cataract. Results showed that the scores of the MMFA and ETDRS tests displayed high levels of agreement and acceptable and similar discriminative ability. The MMFA performance was correlated with the severity of diabetic retinopathy. Most of the MMFA scores differed significantly between the diabetic patients and controls. In the low contrast condition, the MMFA scores were significantly lower for 006Eon-DR patients than for controls. The potential utility of the MMFA as an easy screening tool for contrast-dependent visual function and for detecting early functional visual change in patients with type 2 diabetes is discussed.
Department of Occupational Therapy, Graduate Certificate in Low Vision Rehabilitation, University of Alabama, Birmingham, United States of America.|School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Li-Ting
LT
Tsai
Department of Endocrine and Metabolism, Zhong-Xiao Branch, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Kuo-Meng
KM
Liao
School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yuh
Y
Jang
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Fu-Chang
FC
Hu
Department of Ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University, School of Medicine, Taoyuan County, Taiwan.
Wei-Chi
WC
Wu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D014792:Visual Acuity