Diurnal variation of visual functions for driving with and without orthokeratology: A multicenter study

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate orthokeratology-related diurnal variations in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, mesopic (twilight) vision, and glare sensitivity, and to verify compliance with requirements for driver licensing. METHODS: In this prospective, multicenter, controlled study, fifty myopic (range, -1.00 to -4.50 D) and non-presbyopic glasses or soft contact lens wearers (age range, 16-39 years) were fitted with orthokeratology (OK) contact lenses. Before and after completion of OK lens fitting, measurements of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, mesopic vision and glare sensitivity were performed at three times of the day, morning, afternoon and evening using a standardized binocular vision testing device (Oculus Binoptometer 4P). Monocular and binocular visual acuity were tested according to ISO 8596 and compared to requirements of cars and motorcycles drivers in different countries. RESULTS: Compared to the prior correction, binocular visual acuity (logMAR) with orthokeratology was statistically significant better in the morning (0.04 ± 0.12; p < 0.05) and afternoon (0.04 ± 0.10; p < 0.05), while the difference was not statistically significant in the evening (p = 0.512). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in contrast sensitivity in the morning (p = 0.813), afternoon (p = 0.742) or evening (p = 0.945). For both mesopic vision and glare sensitivity, there was no statistically significant difference between the contrast levels achieved with orthokeratology compared to the prior correction in the morning (p = 0.083; p = 1.000), afternoon (p = 0.054; p = 0.125) or evening (p = 0.195; p = 0.635). With orthokeratology, no statistically significant diurnal variation was found for binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, mesopic vision or glare sensitivity (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results provide evidence, that visual functions of OK lens wearers are stable throughout the day and comparable to the prior correction. Although the visual standards for driving are not uniform within countries, the requirements for visual acuity are met in all of the countries. Mesopic vision and glare sensitivity, which are suggested as other aspects to influence driving performance, also appear to be constant over the course of the day.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2024.102345
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry & Vision Science Research Group (OVSRG)
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry
College of Health & Life Sciences
Aston University (General)
Funding Information: This study was supported by the Forschungsgemeinschaft Deutscher Augenoptiker, Dusseldorf, Germany.
Additional Information: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of British Contact Lens Association. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Contrast sensitivity,Driving licence regulation,Glare sensitivity,Mesopic (twilight) vision,Orthokeratology,Visual acuity,Ophthalmology,Optometry
Publication ISSN: 1476-5411
Last Modified: 26 Mar 2025 08:13
Date Deposited: 17 Dec 2024 11:14
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.con ... 0238-8/fulltext (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2024-12-09
Published Online Date: 2024-12-09
Accepted Date: 2024-11-28
Authors: Bandlitz, Stefan
Gruhl, Jessica
Oesker, Gunther
Lachenmaier, Daniel
Giepen, Carsten
Reck, Barbara
Hoppe, Oliver
Lagrèze, Wolf A.
Wolffsohn, James S. (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-4673-8927)

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