Defining 10-2 visual field progression criteria: exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using pointwise linear...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Visual Neuroscience
• Medical Statistics

Background:

• Glaucoma management relies on detecting visual field progression.
• The 10-2 visual field test offers detailed central vision assessment.
• Standard progression criteria may not optimally capture 10-2 visual field changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate different criteria for identifying visual field progression using trend analysis in glaucoma patients.
• To establish reliable methods for documenting central visual field progression rates.
• To compare the performance of various progression criteria based on sensitivity, specificity, and progression-to-improvement ratio (PIR).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study including 146 eyes of 146 glaucoma patients.
• Pointwise linear regression analysis on 68 test locations of 10-2 visual field sequences.
• Exploration of criteria to define progression, calculating PIR, and using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to identify correlated visual field sectors.

Main Results:

• The median baseline 10-2 Mean Deviation (MD) was -12.0 dB.
• The median rate of 10-2 MD change was -0.38 dB/year.
• The criterion with the highest PIR required at least 3 test points in the same LCA-derived sector progressing faster than -1.0 dB/year (P<0.01).

Conclusions:

• This study introduces and validates novel progression criteria for 10-2 visual fields.
• The findings aid in refining glaucoma monitoring for various stages of visual impairment.
• The results may inform the development of advanced perimetric algorithms for precise progression detection.