Abstract
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and can affect a broad array of daily activities, including driving. Recently, studies investigating the relationship between driving performance and glaucoma have received a great deal of interest. Assessment of driving behavior is not straightforward because driving is a complex skill involving significant multi-tasking ability. In this review, we summarize recent work from clinical studies investigating how glaucoma can affect driving performance. Patients with glaucoma are more likely to be involved in motor vehicle collisions when compared to healthy subjects. Here we describe how conventional functional tests performed in glaucoma patients, such as visual field measurements via standard automatic perimetry, are associated with driving performance. However, the risk of motor vehicle collisions is not entirely attributable to visual field impairment in glaucoma, suggesting that other factors also account for both driving safety and performance. Finally, we show different studies suggesting that parameters from driving simulators can be helpful because they can identify the impact of visual loss on complex situations.
Highlights
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide[1]
Patients with glaucoma are more likely to be involved in motor vehicle collisions when compared to healthy subjects
The risk of motor vehicle collisions is not entirely attributable to visual field impairment in glaucoma, suggesting that other factors account for both driving safety and performance
Summary
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide[1]. In 2013, the number of people with glaucoma worldwide was estimated to be 64.3 million and was expected to increase to 111.8 million in 2040(1). With a limited sample size and limited patients profile (general relatively mild/moderate disease), the aforementioned study conducted by Gracitelli and colleagues showed that visual field loss was not a predictive factor for the risk of traffic collision among patients with glaucoma[35] These findings indicate that the ability to drive is a complex task involving the simultaneous use of central and peripheral vision, attention shift, dynamic spatial orientation, kinetic depth perception and assessment of dangerous occurrences[31]. Using repeated scenarios Adler and colleagues showed that drivers with glaucoma are more susceptible to changing their night driving habits on roads in unknown areas, indicating that the simulator may resemble reality[57] In another recent study, Diniz-Filho and colleagues found that patients with glaucoma had a higher risk of MVCs during foggy conditions than healthy individuals from the control group in a driving simulator, with a higher risk in patients with a mean deviation from visual field lower than -9 dB[58]. These tools may have a relatively long learning curve, and can sometimes create discomfort during the test[35]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
