Visual acuity versus letter contrast sensitivity in early cataract

Large and small letter contrast sensitivity and visual acuity were assessed in 37 elderly eyes (mean VA -0.01 logMAR, Snellen 6/6) and their lens opacities were categorised and graded using the LOCS III system. Large letter contrast sensitivity was often not reduced in cataract from age-matched normal values and provided limited information. Small letter contrast sensitivity was shown to be a more sensitive measure of early cataract than visual acuity and large letter contrast sensitivity. Its usefulness may be limited by its strong correlation with visual acuity (r2 = 0.70), which is the standard and traditional measure of vision in cataract.

[1]  David B Elliott,et al.  Comparing clinical tests of visual function in cataract with the patient's perceived visual disability , 1990, Eye.

[2]  L. Chylack,et al.  Contrast sensitivity and visual acuity in patients with early cataracts , 1993, Journal of cataract and refractive surgery.

[3]  G. Legge,et al.  Psychophysics of reading—I. Normal vision , 1985, Vision Research.

[4]  Denis G. Pelli,et al.  THE DESIGN OF A NEW LETTER CHART FOR MEASURING CONTRAST SENSITIVITY , 1988 .

[5]  H. Taylor,et al.  The effect of early cataracts on glare and contrast sensitivity. A pilot study. , 1992, Archives of ophthalmology.

[6]  B. Munoz,et al.  Prevalence of lens opacities in surgical and general populations. , 1991, Archives of ophthalmology.

[7]  P Pasquini,et al.  Influence of type and severity of pure forms of age-related cataract on visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. Italian American Cataract Study Group. , 1994, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[8]  D. Elliott,et al.  Simple Clinical Techniques to Evaluate Visual Function in Patients with Early Cataract , 1990, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[9]  M. C. Leske,et al.  The Lens Opacities Classification System III , 1993 .

[10]  M. Kaiser-Kupfer,et al.  Contrast sensitivity in patients with nuclear cataracts. , 1992, Archives of ophthalmology.

[11]  J. Rabin,et al.  Optical defocus: differential effects on size and contrast letter recognition thresholds. , 1994, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[12]  M. Bullimore,et al.  Assessing the reliability, discriminative ability, and validity of disability glare tests. , 1993, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[13]  D D Koch,et al.  Glare and contrast sensitivity testing in cataract patients , 1989, Journal of cataract and refractive surgery.

[14]  G. Rubin,et al.  The association of postoperative subjective visual function with acuity, glare, and contrast sensitivity in patients with early cataract. , 1996, Archives of ophthalmology.

[15]  D Whitaker,et al.  Contrast sensitivity and glare sensitivity changes with three types of cataract morphology: are these techniques necessary in a clinical evaluation of cataract? , 1989, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[16]  M. Podgor,et al.  Contrast and glare sensitivity. Association with the type and severity of the cataract. , 1992, Ophthalmology.

[17]  G. Fishman,et al.  Visual acuity vs letter contrast sensitivity in retinitis pigmentosa , 1995, Vision Research.

[18]  D Regan,et al.  Contrast sensitivity, visual acuity and the discrimination of Snellen letters in multiple sclerosis. , 1981, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[19]  G. Rubin,et al.  Comparison of acuity, contrast sensitivity, and disability glare before and after cataract surgery. , 1993, Archives of ophthalmology.

[20]  Gordon E. Legge,et al.  Psychophysics of reading—V. The role of contrast in normal vision , 1987, Vision Research.

[21]  N. Brown,et al.  Validation of methods for the assessment of cataract progression in the Roche European-American Anticataract Trial (REACT) , 1995, Ophthalmic epidemiology.

[22]  David Regan,et al.  Do letter charts measure contrast sensitivity , 1991 .

[23]  R. Hess,et al.  Vision through cataracts. , 1978, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[24]  J. Rabin,et al.  Measuring Resolution in the Contrast Domain: The Small Letter Contrast Test , 1996, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.