Incidence of visual field loss in 20,000 eyes and its relationship to driving performance

Abstract

Automated visual field screening of 10,000 volunteers (20,000 eyes) showed the incidence of visual field loss was 3.0% to 3.5% for persons aged 16 to 60 years but was approximately 13.0% for those older than 65 years. Approximately half of the persons with abnormal visual fields were previously unaware of any problem with peripheral vision. Follow-up results suggested that the most common causes of visual field loss were glaucoma, retinal disorders, and cataracts. Drivers with binocular visual field loss had accident and conviction rates twice as high as those with normal visual fields. Drivers with monocular visual field loss had accident and conviction rates equivalent to those of a control group. Our results have important implications for mass visual field screening to detect eye diseases and for vision-related factors in traffic safety.