APPLIED VISUAL PERFORMANCE TESTS

Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco CA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The US population is aging dramatically. Vision changes are virtually inevitable with increasing age. Loss of vision is a major obstacle to independent living which reduces the quality of life in old age. The initial phase of this project has extended our knowledge about vision function among the elderly and its relationship to vision task performance, subjective visual complaints and general health and functioning. Data on a wide array of vision functions have been gathered on 902 randomly selected, community-living participants over the age of 55 including an unusually large number, nearly 300, over 80 years, a subgroup whose vision function was essentially unknown. Many important goals of aging studies can now be addressed by the proposed longitudinal study for which the established study cohort, validated vision tests and concurrent epidemiologic study of health and functioning present a unique opportunity. The cohort will be tested twice more during the study period using the vision test battery, questionnaires (including the NEI Quality of Life instrument), and visual task performance measures. Driving and medical records will also be collected. An independently funded, longitudinal research program will be continued to evaluate general health, nutrition and physical functioning. This information in combination with the vision-related results will provide a data set unique in scope. Specific goals include characterization of the changes in vision function and visual task performance with age; determination of health, nutrition and other risk factors for loss of vision function; assessment of the ability of the vision measures to prospectively predict health status; and development of combined risk factor models to explain the synergistic interactions between vision and other health/functioning deficits in affecting everyday task performance and quality of life. The existing collaboration between Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute and the epidemiological research program at the Buck Center for Research in Aging is a unique opportunity to address issues of broad scope and importance that would otherwise require enormous financial and human resources. At the same time, valuable data on vision changes with age will be made available on a population of rapidly increasing importance whose vision function has never before been comprehensively studied.