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The Impact of Ocular Diseases on Driving: a Prospective Study

Completed
Conditions
Glaucoma
Macular Degeneration
Interventions
Other: Speed discrimination test
Behavioral: Driving simulation
Registration Number
NCT02313259
Lead Sponsor
CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval
Brief Summary

The purpose of the study was (1) to determine thresholds for discriminating speed in peripheral fields of patients with dry AMD and (2) to examine the driving skills of licensed drivers with early dry AMD using a driving simulator and to investigate how their healthy counterparts perform on the same driving tasks. We hypothesized that speed discrimination may be better in patients with dry AMD than in healthy control subjects.

Detailed Description

This observational study has two goals:

1. to establish if patients affected by dry AMD have a different speed discriminating threshold using peripheral vision fields than their healthy counterparts.

2. to determine if the driving skills of AMD and glaucoma patients differ from healthy controls.

Two tasks will be used: 1) A speed discrimination test. (Glaucoma patient are not asked to perform this task as it assesses the peripheral visual fields, which is affected by the disease.) 2) A driving simulation session. Participant will undergo both tests on the same day, no later than a month after the initial recruitement visit.

For both diseases, patients will be compared to healthy controls matched for age and gender, but also to a younger control group. The latter group was added in order to take into account the normal aging impact on driving skills (visual and cognitive).

Our hypothesis is that AMD patient will show a better speed discriminating threshold than matched control and maybe better or equal to the younger control groups. We also hypothesize that driving skills involving peripheric speed awareness, such as passing another car, will be enhanced in the AMD group when compared to glaucoma patients and age-matched control group.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
60
Inclusion Criteria
  • Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) had to be at least 20/50 (6/15).
  • Binocular visual field (VF) should not be less than 120° along the horizontal meridian and 20° above and below the same meridian.
  • Valid driving license
  • Diagnosis of bilateral dry AMD (AMD group) or open-angle glaucoma (glaucoma group)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Diplopia
  • Cognitive impairment
  • Other ocular diseases

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Age-matched controlsDriving simulation15 drivers without ocular disease.
Age-matched controlsSpeed discrimination test15 drivers without ocular disease.
AMD controlsSpeed discrimination test15 patients with early to intermediate AMD (grade 2-8) were enrolled using the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) severity scale for AMD.
AMD controlsDriving simulation15 patients with early to intermediate AMD (grade 2-8) were enrolled using the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) severity scale for AMD.
Young controlsDriving simulation15 drivers without ocular disease. Between 18 and 25 years old.
Glaucoma patientsDriving simulation15 patients having a Humphrey visual field mean deviation between -10 and -12 (better eye).
Young controlsSpeed discrimination test15 drivers without ocular disease. Between 18 and 25 years old.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Speed discrimination thresholdBefore driving simulation

75% point is taken as a measure of the discrimination threshold.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Driving performanceAfter speed discrimination task

Probe reaction time task. Speed limits. Respect of traffic safety rules.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Centre universitaire d'ophtalmologie, Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, CHU de Québec

🇨🇦

Québec, Quebec, Canada

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