Trail Making Test performance contributes to subjective judgment of visual efficiency in older adults.

Annalisa Setti,Roseanne Kenny,James Loughman,George M Savva

doi:10.7717/peerj.1407

Abstract

Introduction. The determinant factors that influence self-reported quality of vision have yet to be fully elucidated. This study evaluated a range of contextual information, established psychophysical tests, and in particular, a series of cognitive tests as potentially novel determinant factors.Materials & Methods. Community dwelling adults (aged 50+) recruited to Wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, excluding those registered blind, participated in this study (N = 5,021). Self-reports of vision were analysed in relation to visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, ocular pathology, visual (Choice Response Time task; Trail Making Test) and global cognition. Contextual factors such as having visited an optometrist and wearing glasses were also considered. Ordinal logistic regression was used to determine univariate and multivariate associations.Results and Discussion. Poor Trail Making Test performance (Odds ratio, OR = 1.36), visual acuity (OR = 1.72) and ocular pathology (OR = 2.25) were determinant factors for poor versus excellent vision in self-reports. Education, wealth, age, depressive symptoms and general cognitive fitness also contributed to determining self-reported vision.Conclusions. Trail Making Test contribution to self-reports may capture higher level visual processing and should be considered when using self-reports to assess vision and its role in cognitive and functional health.

Highlights

The determinant factors that influence self-reported quality of vision have yet to be fully elucidated
Our results confirm the existing evidence that visual acuity is a clear contributor to Self Reported Vision (SRV) as well as ocular pathology
We feel that considering the vast amount of questions asked in the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) and the intensive assessment occurring in the health assessment it is unlikely that expectations on specific tests and their associations could be formed and significantly influence performance

Summary

Introduction

The determinant factors that influence self-reported quality of vision have yet to be fully elucidated. Self-reports of vision were analysed in relation to visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, ocular pathology, visual (Choice Response Time task; Trail Making Test) and global cognition. Contextual factors such as having visited an optometrist and wearing glasses were considered. We analyzed another psychological construct, self reported vision, How to cite this article Setti et al (2015), Trail Making Test performance contributes to subjective judgment of visual efficiency in older adults. Whether impairment in visual processing can be captured by subjective reports of poor vision independently from global cognitive impairments and lower level acuity impairment (more related to optical factors) remains to be determined and could contribute in explaining why some individuals with good visual acuity report poorer vision and vice versa. In the domain of hearing, extensive work has been devoted to central presbycusis showing that specific hearing deficits linked to central hearing processing may exist independently both from peripheral deficits and central cognitive deficits, and can be captured in the subjective experience of individuals with poor hearing (Humes et al, 2012)

Methods

Results

Conclusion