Glaucomatous Visual Field Defect Severity and the Prevalence of Motor Vehicle Collisions in Japanese: A Hospital/Clinic-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Purpose. This study examined the association between the severity of visual field defects and the prevalence of motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods. This is a cross-sectional study. Japanese patients who have had driver's licence between 40 and 85 years of age were screened for eligibility. Participants answered a questionnaire about MVCs experienced during the previous 5 years. Subjects with POAG were classified as having mild, moderate, or severe visual field defect. We evaluated associations between the severity of POAG and the prevalence of MVCs by logistic regression models. Results. The prevalence of MVCs was significantly associated with the severity of POAG categorized by worse eye MD (control: 30/187 = 16.0%; mild POAG: 17/92 = 18.5%; moderate POAG: 14/60 = 23.3%; severe POAG: 14/47 = 29.8%; P = 0.025, Cochran-Armitage trend test). Compared to the control group, the adjusted OR for MVC prevalence in subjects with mild, moderate, or severe POAG in the worse eye was 1.07 (95% CI: 0.55 to 2.10), 1.44 (95% CI: 0.68 to 3.08), and 2.28 (95% CI: 1.07 to 4.88). Conclusions. There is a significant association between the severity of glaucoma in the worse eye MD and the prevalence of MVCs.

Risk Factors for Motor Vehicle Collisions in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

“…[13,14] The results from the current study are inconsistent with our previous report. The reason for this is unclear but one possible explanation is the difference in study design.…”

“…Several studies have evaluated the association between glaucoma and MVCs. [6–13] We previously reported that patients with severe glaucoma (n = 20, prevalence of MVCs was 25.0%) were 8 times more likely to be involved in MVCs compared with controls (n = 144, prevalence of MVCs was 3.5%). [14] Recently Kwon et al reported that the rate of MVCs was 1.65 times higher in drivers with glaucoma (n = 206, 37 subjects (18%) had a history of MVCs) compared with those without glaucoma (n = 1,794, 219 subjects (13%) had a history of MVCs).…”

Estimating the Binocular Visual Field of Glaucoma Patients With an Adjustment for Ocular Dominance

“…Estimating the binocular VF is clinically very important because glaucomatous VF damage is closely related to the deterioration of a patient's quality of life (QOL). 4,52 Patients use both eyes in daily life, but only monocular VFs are generally tested in the clinic. Various methods have been proposed to attempt to precisely estimate the binocular VF from a patient's monocular VF.…”

The Impact of Visual Field Loss on Driving Skills: A Systematic Narrative Review

“…Conflicting results have been obtained regarding the impact of homonymous visual field loss on driving. The driving deficits reported include inappropriate lane positioning, space judgement, inconsistent steering and increased risk of collisions (Bowers et al 2009;Kooijman et al 2004;Kunimatsu-Sanuki et al 2015;Lövsund et al 1991;McGwin et al 2015;Ono et al 2015;Rubin et al 2007;Szlyk et al 1993Szlyk et al , 2005Tant et al 2002). On the other hand, further studies found little difference in performance between hemianopes and those with full fields (Schulte et al 1999;Wood et al 2009).…”