Association of Contrast Sensitivity With Eye Disease and Vision-Related Quality of Life

To investigate contrast sensitivity (CS) as a screening tool to detect eye disease and assess its association with both eye disease and vision-related quality of life.

Cross-sectional study.

Setting and population: Adults receiving care from a free clinic and a Federally Qualified Health Center in Michigan.

Screening positive for eye disease and Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ) score.

Participants received a vision exam reviewed via telemedicine for disease, completed a demographic survey, and the 9-item VFQ. The ability of CS to predict eye disease was explored and area under the curve (AUC) is reported. Logistic and linear regression were used to investigate the continuous effect of CS on the probability of screening positive for eye disease and VFQ score, respectively, adjusting for age and visual acuity.

1159 included participants were, on average, 54.9 ± 14.5 years old, 62% identified as female, 34% as White, 54% as Black, 10% as Hispanic/Latino, and reported mean VFQ score of 79.7 ± 15.3. CS ranged from 0.00 to 1.95 log units (mean = 1.54 ± 0.24), 21% of eyes had glaucoma, 19% cataract, 6% DR, and 2% AMD. AUCs were 0.53 to 0.73. A 0.3 log unit decrease in better eye CS was associated with increased odds of glaucoma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.35, confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-1.67), cataract (OR = 1.35, CI = 1.05-1.72), DR (OR = 2.05, CI = 1.51-2.77), and AMD (OR = 2.08, CI = 1.10-3.91). A 0.3 log unit increase in better eye CS was associated with a 5.9 unit increase in VFQ.

While CS alone is not sufficient to identify people with eye disease, it is an important measure of visual function that can add value to comprehensive eye screening.