Comparison of three methods of evaluating glare

Abstract

A Humphrey Automatic Refractor Model 570 was used to measure the impairment of visual acuity for low contrast optotypes as a result of glare for normal subjects and for subjects with cataracts. This was compared with a direct measure of intraocular light scatter as measured by a compensating technique and with a subjective assessment of glare determined by a questionnaire. Only a weak correlation (r = 0.28) was found between the decrease in low contrast letter acuity and intraocular light scatter. The subjective assessment of glare sensitivity was not correlated with the decrease in low contrast letter acuity, but correlated to some extent (r = 0.55) with the measurement of intraocular light scatter.